Amenia to hear public comment on proposed smoking ban

AMENIA — Town officials are seeking public comment on a proposed ban on smoking and vaping on town-owned property.
The Amenia Town Board will host its first public hearing on the proposed local law at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17, at Town Hall on Route 22. Town Board members voted unanimously to move forward with the regulation in August.

The proposed law would prohibit smoking or vaping tobacco — as well as cannabis products — in town-owned parks and other public recreational areas. The ban would apply to Town Hall and its surrounding grounds and parking lots, the basketball court, Beekman Park, Fountain Square, the Mygatt, Leedsville and Bangall-Amenia Road cemeteries, and the town highway garage and salt shed.

If enacted, the law would impose a $50 fine for a first violation and fines ranging from $200 to $500 for subsequent violations.

Town Supervisor Rosanna Hamm said the town expects to enforce these new rules through a combination of existing Dutchess County Sheriff’s deputy patrols and by utilizing the town’s part-time constables. Amenia’s constables are part-time employees that have the authority to enforce local town laws such as policing parking in town in addition to typical duties managing the town’s courtroom.

The town will also install “no smoking” signs at the locations mentioned in the proposed local law.

“You have to start somewhere,” Hamm said. “I’m not really sure we even had a smoking law, but if we did it’s not as specific as this law.”

She said the inspiration for the law was new guidance from lung health associations on the negative health effects of nicotine vapes and the growing prevalence of public cannabis consumption following recreational legalization in New York. That guidance spurred Hamm and town officials to realize a formal smoking policy didn’t exist in the town code, leading to the proposed ban.

Following the public hearing, Town Board members will vote on the law itself. If approved, the regulations will be sent to the New York Secretary of State’s office for certification and go into effect immediately after state approval.