Iowa City considers tobacco ban in all city parks

IOWA CITY - City leaders could expand Iowa City's smoking ban to include all city parks.

On Tuesday, the Iowa City Council is slated to vote on an amendment to the city's Smoke Free Places ordinance to prohibit the use of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes and chewing tobacco throughout all parks except in privately owned vehicles. The change would include trails that traverse city parks.

Juli Seydell Johnson, Iowa City director of parks and recreation, said smoking and the use of e-cigarettes already is banned in several Iowa City parks. Smokeless tobacco is not prohibited anywhere in the city.

'This just expands it to all parks,” Seydell Johnson said Friday.

According to city documents, it's currently illegal to smoke in several Iowa City parks, including dog parks, Black Hawk Mini Park, City Plaza, the Iowa City Kickers Soccer Park and Napoleon Park, to name a few.

In January of this year, officials with the Johnson County Public Health Department gave a presentation to the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Commission about the dangers of smoking and encouraged the city to expand the ordinance to include all parks.

In August, the City Council directed staff to draft an ordinance amendment.

The council will discuss the matter at 7 p.m. Tuesday during the formal meeting at City Hall, 410 E. Washington St.

Iowa's Smokefree Air Act - passed in 2008 - prohibits smoking in almost all public places and enclosed areas within places of employment, as well as some outdoor areas.

Smoking also is prohibited on all University of Iowa property.

The Iowa City Council in 2015 passed an ordinance prohibiting e-cigarettes anywhere that smoking is banned.

Seydell Johnson said she hasn't heard many concerns about current smoking bans in parks.

'I think now it's more or less expected,” she said.

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