DEARBORN — The city council is moving to ban all forms of smoking at parks. On Tuesday, Jun 23, the council tabled the ordinance, which is expected to pass unanimously after a second reading next month.

The ordinance outlaws “exhaling smoke from burning tobacco or any other burning product that is contained in a hookah, pipe, cigar, cigarette and/or e-cigarette” within Dearborn parks.

However, violators of the ordinance would not be automatically ticketed.

“A person who violates this section is subject to being cited with a violation only if he or she refuses to cease smoking immediately upon being requested or ordered to do so by a police officer or ordinance officer,” the ordinance reads.

If smokers do not comply with police orders, they can be handed a $25 civil infraction.

Smoking hookah at parks during picnics is common among Arab Americans.

Council President Susan Dabaja said the ordinance is based on public health concerns and follows state and national anti-smoking efforts.

Dabaja said the topic was debated at length in a recent council study session.

“While I am definitely not in favor of having smoke around our children, I was hoping that we could reach a compromise and maybe designate an area for people that do like to smoke, far from the play spaces, the basketball courts and baseball diamonds,” Dabaja said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to reach something that we would all agree on. The way this ordinance is presented today is that all forms of smoking would be banned from any area of our city parks.”

Mayor Jack O’Reilly said the ordinance would be enforced by residents who would call the police to report smoking and by periodic checks by law enforcement agents on parks throughout the city. 

Camp Dearborn, a city-owned park in Milford Township, will be exempt from the ordinance, because although it is operated by the city, it follows the local regulations of Milford. 

Councilman Robert Abraham, who proposed the ordinance, asked for a memo that would exempt the city-owned Dearborn Hills Golf Course from the ban.

Councilman Mike Sareini rejected the exemption.

“If the interest is public health, we’ve got to be consistent across the board,” Sareini said.

Sareini, who accepted the ordinance reluctantly, said Dearborn is the first city in Southeast Michigan to ban smoking from parks. He explained that Birmingham and Ann Arbor have smoking restrictions near play areas and closed spaces at parks, not a total ban like the one proposed by the ordinance.

The councilman said he agrees that putting regulations based on distance within the park would make the law difficult to enforce, which is why he supports the total ban. 

“But I don’t think we should pick and choose now— that it’s okay at certain places but not at others,” he told Abraham.

Abraham said the memo to exclude the golf course was in the ordinance from the beginning, but Sareini said the memo was not included in the first reading of the ordinance. Council Pro Tem Tom Tafelski suggested postponing the vote until the matter is clarified. 

“Let’s table it; I’ve got to know what I’m voting on,” Sareini said, seconding the motion.

After some confusion, the ordinance was tabled and will be up for a final vote in the next regular meeting on July 21. If adopted, the ordinance becomes effective immediately.

“I feel the ordinance is already intrusive for people’s freedoms,” Sareini told the Arab American News. “But we have a responsibility to protect people from second-hand smoking; and if we ban smoking at parks we need to do it consistently, across the board, without exceptions.” 

Banning smoking at parks is the latest in a wave of ordinances to tighten residential and business regulations in Dearborn.

The city council banned turning garages into living spaces early last year. It passed and repealed an ordinance, also proposed by Abraham, to limit building permits to one year, which turned to be in contradiction with state law. Last year, the council outlawed playing sports outdoor past 10 p.m.