By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — No more blazing up at beaches and some other town-owned recreational facilities.

Smoking and vaping — tobacco and cannabis — were banned by the Parks and Recreation Commission on Wednesday.

The prohibition applies to beaches and amenities within town-owned properties, such as playgrounds, pools, ball fields and athletic courts. And with a 25-foot buffer.

The 25-foot rule matches state guidelines.

The commission’s vote was unanimous.

Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Fava, who proposed the measure — a regulation rather than a town ordinance — said it was not an outright ban at all parks and facilities.

“This doesn’t mean all of our parks,” she said. “It’s for certain amenities within the parks. Like Longshore, you’ll be able to smoke on the golf course. Really anywhere, unless you’re at the pool or in the tennis courts, or in the playground, within those buffers.

“Winslow Park there’s absolutely nothing,” Fava said. “Riverside Park there would be nothing … it’s not a blanket everywhere.”

Commission member Matt Haynes noted public feedback seemed to be all in favor of the ban. He asked if anyone spoke against the measure.

“No,” Fava said. “There really wasn’t anybody … there was nobody that said anything in opposition.”

Fava said Wednesday, as she had previously, that four out of five Connecticut towns ban smoking at recreational facilities.

One toke over the line?

At the commission’s previous meeting on the issue in May, Carmen Roda, operational manager for the Parks and Recreation Department, said there was a rising number of complaints about people smoking where children were nearby at playgrounds or swimming pools.

One encounter between an upset parent and a cannabis smoker near a playground became confrontational and escalated quickly, Roda said.

Commission member Elaine Whitney said Wednesday she fully supports the ban.

“Most important, the health and safety aspects where a community as a whole with the second-hand smoke,” she said. “Particularly as we’re learning more and more about the negative consequences of that.”

In terms of youth, she said, it could help discourage inappropriate modeling.

There was some discussion about whether or not to include edible cannabis products.

“It was never our intent to try to police people eating a gummy …,” Fava said. “Number one, there’s no way for us to know. Again, the intent was for the effects it would have on other people.”

Those concerns included health effects on non-smokers from second-hand smoke and sanitation.

Edible cannabis products were not part of the measure passed Wednesday.

Fava said the department would have to do an educational/marketing campaign to spread the word about the new rules.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.