One New Jersey beach is cleaning up by banning smoking. Because secondhand smoke must be what's making it dirty—not the drunken crowds, the puking teenagers, the airborne trash, the “brown water” or the occasional batch of syringes washing ashore.
In a breezy, ocean-shore environment where the wind is constant and cigarette smoke could never linger, a smoking ban has gone into effect.
Seaside Heights passed an ordinance last week to ban smoking everywhere on the beach except within 20 feet from the boardwalk, says the borough’s Municipal Clerk Diane Stabley.
The restriction was passed in response to nonsmokers’ complaints to the town.
The town won’t be issuing tickets yet, said Stabley, but will educate the public with warnings. Once enforcement of tickets begins, fines could be as high as $1,250.
“We want to welcome and accommodate all visitors to our Borough, and are trying to establish the proper balance, which is not always simple,” said Administrator John Camera on the borough’s site.
This welcome is also extended to the third round of MTV using the town to show life on the Jersey Shore the way MTV sees it. The new show will be following “a group of people who are working in the local nightclub scene,” says the bourough's site.
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At least the bartenders and strippers won’t be filmed smoking on the beach. Good way to stay classy, Seaside Heights.
