Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • December 3, 2014 Franklin Lakes Borough ordinance would prohibit smoking by Frank J. McMahon A new ordinance introduced by the Franklin Lakes Bor- ough Council would, if adopted, prohibit smoking within public buildings -- including within 35 feet of the main entrance, all borough parks and recreational facilities, and vehicles registered to the borough. The ordinance would also ban the use of e-cigarettes in those areas. Public buildings are defined as all structures owned, leased, rented, and/or operated by the borough which are occupied by borough employees, and used for the official business of the borough. This new ordinance would expand the prohibition of smoking from the borough’s two current ordinances, one of which prohibits smoking on recreational fields, and the other which prohibits smoking within the public areas of the tennis courts, playground, and parking lot on Old Mill Road. Smoking under that ordinance is prohibited within the public areas located on certain streets surrounding the smoke-free Express Scripts campus on Old Mill Road. Those streets are: Old Mill Road from Lawlins Road to Arbor Road, Arbor Road, Hobar Court, Beechwood Place, Woodside Avenue from Old Mill Road to Beechwood Place, Parsons Pond Road, Stonewall Court, Lenapi Drive, and Lawlins Road. That prohibition does not apply, however, to the smoking or carrying of lighted tobacco in a moving motor vehicle operating on those roadways. The new ordinance was prompted by the state’s recent passage of legislation to prohibit smoking in public places including public parks and beaches throughout the state. But that legislation was vetoed by Governor Chris Christie in order to permit each town to decide if smoking in public places should be prohibited. In the new ordinance, it is explained that previous state legislation which prohibited municipalities from passing strict local smoking laws that differed from the state stan- dards was repealed and the state now expressly authorizes municipalities to enact strict ordinances regulating smok- ing. The ordinance also states that borough officials recog- nize the well-known health and safety risks posed by smok- ing and find that it is within the public interest to prohibit smoking in public buildings and on public property, such as public parks and recreation areas and facilities, and in any vehicle registered to the borough. In addition, the ordinance points out that state law provides that the owner and/or operator of a public place owned or leased by the borough may prohibit smoking on such property. The ordinance provides that the international no-smok- ing symbol, consisting of a pictorial representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a red circle with a diagonal red line through it, must be clearly visible to the public and conspicuously posted at each municipal building entrance and within each closed area where smoking is prohibited by this chapter, and at the 35-foot perimeter of the front entrance of all municipal buildings where smoking is pro- hibited by this ordinance. Originally, the council discussed and agreed to prohibit smoking on and in all public property in the borough. Upon (continued on page 19)