COCOA BEACH, Fla. — Cocoa Beach city leaders said they are looking to join a small, but growing list of cities that prohibit smoking in city parks.

The topic is set for conversation during the city’s sustainability committee meeting Wednesday night. The city commission will hold a first reading on a proposed ordinance addressing smoking in parks during its first meeting of the year on Thursday.

Language of the proposed ordinance states the following:

“Smoking in all city parks except for the Ocean Beach, which are used by or open to the public within the City of Cocoa Beach, is prohibited. Smoking of unfiltered cigars is exempt from this prohibition in accordance with Section 386.209, Florida Statutes (2022).”

The ordinance, as it stands right now, only applies to city parks, according to Cocoa Beach Mayor Ben Malik. That would include Sidney Fischer Park and Shepard Park. 

“Kudos to the state legislature,” Malik said. “In July of 2022, they gave us the ability to regulate our city parks, and this is the genesis of this conversation. We want to keep our kids safe.”

Malik said the ordinance would help cut down on the amount of second-hand smoke that kids are exposed to.

In the description of the proposal’s agenda item, city officials also said they are “concerned about the litter consisting of used cigarette filters (cigarette butts) in parks,” which “contain hazardous substances that can be toxic to animals and can take up to 10 years to decompose.”

Currently, the ordinance language would only impact city-run parks, but Malik said he will bring up the idea of expanding that to include beaches as well.

“I’m looking forward to a conversation with my fellow commissioners to talk about the beach parks as well,” he said. “Indian Harbour took the lead on that — they did a pretty good job. I know there’s some interest in the community for us to look at the beach as well.”

Joseph Manfredi, who oversees beach chair rentals for Coconuts on the Beach, said he would love to see a ban on smoking cigarettes at the beach as well. He said cigarette butts are the most common type of litter he and others encounter.

“And it’s hard to see that because of all the wildlife we have, all the little turtles and the seagulls coming up,” he said. “Someone throws their cigarette butt and then you see a seagull dive right down and pick up that cigarette butt and it’s a little hard to see.”