Smoking temporarily banned on CdA property

With the area’s extreme fire danger, Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem has declared an emergency smoking ban for city property on Tubbs Hill, Canfield Mountain and Cherry Hill.

The areas adjoin dry, unirrigated federal or state forest lands, said City Councilman Mike Kennedy, who proposed the idea at Tuesday’s council meeting.

The ban is now in effect, and city workers will post signs on the three properties.

“Ultimately, the result is just awareness and signage so people don’t absent-mindedly light up when they are strolling along Tubbs Hill,” Kennedy said about Coeur d’Alene’s waterfront downtown park. “It’s not a permanent ban.”

Kennedy said the city wants to change the law eventually so a smoking ban in these areas is triggered when state or federal agencies enact fire restrictions.