The Dana Point City Council on Tuesday night, Jan. 16, passed a citywide smoking ban, joining Laguna Beach as the only two cities in Orange County to prohibit smoking on all public sidewalks, in alleys and in parking lots.

Councilman Joseph Muller reacts as the vote comes down in favor of a public smoking ban during a city council meeting at Dana Point City Hall in Dana Point on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. Muller voted against the ban. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

Rick Erkeneff presents his opinion for a public smoking ban while carrying a water jug filled with more than 3,000 cigarette butts during a city council meeting at Dana Point City Hall in Dana Point on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

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Rick Erkeneff’s showed a jug filled with more than 3,000 cigarette butts at the Dana Point City Council meeting, to support the passing of a smoking ban on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

Councilwoman Debra Lewis responds to opinion from councilman Joseph Muller during a city council meeting at Dana Point City Hall in Dana Point on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

A group of veterans watch as members of the public present their opinion on a public smoking ban during a city council meeting at Dana Point City Hall in Dana Point on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)



The ban passed 3-2, with Mayor Rick Viczorek and Mayor Pro Tem Joe Muller opposing.

This followed a 3-1 vote Dec. 5 in favor of the ban, with an abstention by Muller and a no vote from then-Councilman Viczorek, who in that meeting was elected the city’s mayor.

The ordinance will go into effect in 30 days.

Councilwoman Debra Lewis, who introduced the idea of a smoking ban in May, on Tuesday night reiterated her support.

“Three out of four residents want this passed,” she said prior to the vote. “It’s our role to protect the health and welfare of our residents.”

Fourteen people spoke in support of the ban and one argued against it.

“This is extremely important, especially with recreational cannabis,” Dana Point resident Alan Bell said. “Respond to the will of the people, three out of four in Dana Point want this. Three seats are up in the next election. You tell us you want to be for the will of the voters — this stands as a testament to what voters want.”

Jonathan Lukoff, a Laguna Beach pediatrician, warned the Council about the effects of second- and third-hand smoke.

“It causes cancer and infections in children,” he said. “It can cause heart attacks, stroke and sudden death in infants. It gives off the same chemicals as vapes.”

In voting against the ban, Muller said he was shocked the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce did not weigh in and doubted remarks made earlier by Lewis that the city’s four resorts supported it.

“The Ritz-Carlton GM was not aware of the ordinance,” he said. “Another one was concerned he would lose the smoking plaza at Monarch Beach Resort.”

At December’s meeting, Lewis suggested the ordinance would not ban smoking on private property, but City Attorney Patrick Munoz confirmed during the meeting that the ordinance as written does apply to all businesses.

On Tuesday, Muller said the impact on private property owners was a concern.

“It could end up being a good thing,” he said of the ordinance. “I’m just not sure I’m ready to ban smoking all over.”

Denise Erkeneff, special events and youth program chairwoman with the South Orange County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, was among those in attendance.

Erkeneff and 11 volunteers brought with them a jug filled with 3,258 cigarette butts that were collected in less than two hours Saturday along about a quarter-mile from Girl in the Curl to Aurora’s Taqueria — covering sidewalks, planters and bushes along Pacific Coast Highway as well as alleys that run alongside.

The group brought the cigarette butts hoping to have an impact on the Council’s vote.

“These are toxic packages that go into the environment,” said Denise’s husband, Rick Erkeneff, chairman of the Surfrider chapter, as he presented the jug Tuesday night. “When you don’t have a clean environment, you’ll see tourism dollars stop.”

Smoking was banned at all Dana Point city parks in March 2010.

Nancy Leonard, who two years ago moved to Dana Point from Fullerton, said what happens next is critical.

Leonard spoke in support of the ban on Tuesday and reported to the Council that she regularly walks along streets in the city picking up trash.

“I’m very pleased it passed,” she said Wednesday. “My biggest concern is that it needs to be communicated and enforced now. It would also be good to resurrect the city’s anti-littering ordinance again. Both of these go together.”

Leonard noted that there are 12 entrances into Dana Point and city officials plan to post electronic signs at two of those.

She pointed to Laguna Beach, where electronic signs inform drivers that the city is smoke-free at all of its entrances, and to Hermosa Beach, where electronic signs do the same in several locations.

“I feel rotating two signs is inefficient,” she said. “We need more signs.”