SEATTLE — Seattle Parks and Recreation is holding a public hearing on a move to ban smoking in city parks.
City officials are pushing the ban on smoking in Seattle parks as a push for health and less waste with cigarette butts, but some say it’s an effort to push the homeless out of places like Westlake Park.
The smoking ban that's currently on the table for the Board of Seattle Parks Commissioners pushes past the current rule that bans smoking within 25 feet of other people in the park. It's an outright ban on smoking in city parks.
Cities like New York, San Francisco and Portland already have similar measures, but there are concerns among homeless advocates in Seattle that the ban would push them out.
According to the newspaper the Crosscut, they estimate that somewhere between 60 to 80 percent of homeless people smoke.
The public can voice their opinions at the Board of Park Commissioners meeting near Denny Park at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
KIRO
