Fiesta parade smoking snuffed

If you want to light up on the routes of San Antonio's big Fiesta parades this year, forget about it.

The City Council extended the city smoking ban Thursday to the three April parades — the Texas Cavaliers' River Parade, Battle of Flowers and Flambeau.

Together, the parades draw hundreds of thousands of spectators.

Smoking won't be allowed during the parades along the streets, sidewalks and San Antonio River that are in the public right of way.

The ban won't reach into private property, which includes seating that's rented out on private lots.

The Fiesta Commission, parade organizations and more than 100 nonprofits control about 55,000 seats — all in the right of way — for the two street parades. The Cavaliers sell about 17,000 seats for the river parade.

The Fiesta Commission hopes everyone will honor the spirit of smoke-free parades, but the organization has no way to enforce it, commission attorney Frank Burney said.

Councilman Reed Williams voted for the ordinance extension, but he argued that science doesn't necessarily support the notion that second-hand smoke is harmful in outdoor settings.

Noting that he voted for the city's smoke-free ordinance that primarily regulates indoor use, Williams said that when it comes to outdoors, “We are infringing on what people perceive as a personal right.”

Other council members offered full backing.

Mayor Julián Castro said he was satisfied with the ordinance.

“Here's the thing about a parade: You can't choose who you sit next to,” he said.

Council members Leticia Ozuna and Diego Bernal both directed the discussion toward children.

“I am of the opinion that any amount of secondhand smoke is a bad amount, especially if you're a child,” Bernal said. “I don't believe there is a threshold of how much is OK and then at a point, it stops being OK.”

Ozuna, who promised to advocate for the vulnerable when she was recently appointed to the council, made good on that.

“The children really don't have a choice when they attend the parades (about) the air quality in their immediate vicinity,” she said. “And we have such a high proportion of children with respiratory issues — I support this measure.”

The council had considered a broader ordinance in early December that would have banned smoking within 50 feet of the parade routes, regardless of whether smokers were on public or private property.

The earlier version of the ban also didn't include the River Parade.

jbaugh@express-news.net