Staff | The San Diego Union-Tribune

CORONA - Corona will become the first Riverside County city to ban smoking in public parks and recreation areas.

The City Council voted 4-1 Wednesday night to prohibit the use of tobacco products within 25 feet of "tot lot" sandboxes, according to Carlos Carrio, senior health educator for the Tobacco Control Project in the Riverside County Department of Public Health.

The ordinance is expected to take effect May 4 following a second reading.

"This would be a curbside to curbside ban," Carrio said. "We don't want a lethal weapon like cigarettes in the hands of children. Toddlers tend to pick up anything they see in the sand. And any little bit of exposure to cigarettes can be detrimental."

Councilman Jeff Miller cast the lone no vote, citing concerns about enforcement, Carrio said.

According to Carrio, the City Council's vote is the "culmination of three years of work."

"We have sent a message to the citizens of Corona and parents that the City Council is health conscience," Carrio told City News Service. "We're doing this for the health of the children. It's a health issue. It's really a no-brainer."

The health department began trying to persuade Riverside County cities to consider instituting anti-smoking ordinances in parks and recreation areas in 2004, Carrio said.

Moreno Valley's City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a similar proposal, while Palm Springs may also consider adopting a similar ordinance before the end of summer, Carrio said.

The health department's campaign is supported through Proposition 99 Tobacco Tax initiative dollars, Carrio said.

According to the health department spokesman, studies have found that too often smokers leave their cigarette butts in park sandboxes, treating them like dumps when by law smokers are prohibited from being closer than 25 feet.

"It's a health problem and it's a litter problem," Carrio said.

Police officers and park rangers will be responsible for citing anyone caught smoking in a city park, Carrio said. But he added that signs warning smokers that a ban is in effect are usually enough to dissuade them from lighting up.

"It's self-enforced," Carrio said. "People may initially light up, but in time they'll learn to follow the signs. We have a low prevalence of smokers in California - barely 13 percent of the population. The majority of people want smoke-free parks."