One board member’s bid to ban smoking at Magens Bay and Smith Bay Park on St. Thomas led to a lengthy discussion that at times turned testy Friday as the board that runs both properties held its monthly meeting at the beach.
Dayle Barry first made the proposal at a town hall meeting the Magens Bay Authority held in January, and revisited the topic on Friday, when he asked his fellow board members what information they require before they can say yea or nay to a ban.
“The carcinogens in the air is sufficient for me but is apparently not sufficient for you,” he said. Maybe they should take a public poll to gauge what residents want, Barry said.
Pushback was swift from his fellow board members, however, with chairperson Barbara Petersen admonishing Barry for raising the issue at the town hall without first running it by the board.
“You brought it up at the town hall to the surprise of the board,” she said. “I think it is a little bit premature in how it was addressed. That’s not how we make major policy changes.”
As for information the board might need to make an informed decision, Petersen said that was up to Barry to determine, since he raised the issue. Would a ban apply to marijuana as well, or grilling at the sheds the Magens Bay Authority rents out?
“Because you’re driving it, you have to be in charge of the agenda,” said Petersen, adding that while she does not smoke and finds the habit disgusting, she can’t impose her will on others. “I don’t oppose smoking on the beach,” she said, later adding that as much as she abhors the habit, “I can’t stop people from smoking.”
Likewise, Jason Charles said that despite having asthma and being hospitalized for 10 days when he had COVID, he does not oppose smoking at the beach because that would infringe on other people’s rights.
“We are not public health policymakers,” said Charles, and moreover, the park was deeded to all the people of the Virgin Islands “and we need to respect and honor” the intent of the gift, he said. “I’m a little bit perturbed — I feel like it’s little snide remarks you are making,” he told Barry.
“When someone’s behavior impacts my quality of health then I have a responsibility to make a change,” said Barry. “What level of information do people need to make a decision? If there is no level of information then that’s fine and we can move on.”
Petersen suggested that if he feels so strongly about it, Barry should form a committee to further explore the issue.
“It’s a simple question,” he replied. “There’s no amount of information that would convince you.”
Currently, smoking is prohibited from the tree line to the water at the parks, but the rules are not reliably or easily enforced.
According to the Virgin Islands Smoke Free Act, which took effect in 2011, smoking is prohibited in virtually all areas open to the public including “any enclosed/exposed public areas (health care facilities, restaurants, bars, hotels and resorts, beaches, parks, educational facilities, etc.), any outdoors services (i.e. restaurants on the boardwalk/water front in St. Croix and/or businesses/restaurants on Main Street/Red Hook, St. Thomas) or waiting line (i.e. food vans).” Additionally, smokers must be at least 20 feet away from any opening of an establishment (windows, doors, ventilation systems).
Violations may be reported to the Tobacco Complaint Line at 340-712-6230, or online through the Health Department’s Tobacco Complaint page.
However, one community activist attending Friday’s meeting said there is another consideration besides second-hand smoke, and that is the risk of wildfires as the 319-acre preserve is home to a coconut grove, an arboretum of rare and unusual exotic trees, and a 1 1/2-mile nature trail that boasts a mixed-dry forest, moist-tropical forest and mangroves.
All of that could be lost with an errant spark, especially during one of the droughts that regularly impact St. Thomas, she said, adding that firefighting capabilities would be stretched thin at best and would require aerial resources from Puerto Rico.
“If there was a spark that happened back there when there is tinder back there, or when it’s really, really dry — I’m not saying it’s going to, but who knew that California was going to be on fire today — anything could happen. That’s the issue for me that is of grave concern relative to smoking anywhere in this park. All it takes is that to start a fire,” she said, referring to wildfires currently devastating the Golden State and other parts of the Western United States and Canada.
“It’s dangerous to this property. I’d like to put that somewhere in the discussion, that regardless of carcinogens, outside all of that stuff, this would burn to the ground and would never come back in our lifetime,” she said. “That needs to be part of the discussion, because what happens when we have a drought, because we will have a drought. They’re not taking green waste at the landfill.”
In fact, a car fire in January burned a tree and surrounding vegetation before it was contained from spreading further, she said.
That led Charles to ponder whether the park is properly prepared for a fire.
“What do we have as a plan before the fire department can get here? We don’t have a fire plan, and that is an important point,” said Charles. “Hey, maybe we need to set up infrastructure on a few locations on the beach to be able to work on how we can start addressing this issue. That’s something you have brought as an issue and I thank you for that,” he said.
“I can offer that we have a very competent chief of security who is and continues to work on every evacuation plan, fire plan and everything and if he has not updated our fire plan, I can guarantee you, through the general manager, he will get it done. He has the capacity,” said Petersen.
