May 30, 2017
Mark Auterson/PhillyVoice
Kites fly behind the Wildwoods sign at the Jersey Shore.
The days of walking through a cigarette-scented boardwalk in The Wildwoods are coming to a close.
The Board of Commissioners in Wildwood voted to ban public smoking on the 2-mile boardwalk that spans Wildwood and North Wildwood, with plans to implement the ban in January 2018. According to NewsWorks, a final vote will complete the decision next week and is expected to pass.
Though this will give Wildwood the same no-smoking policy as Ocean City, which is also one of the shore’s only dry towns, North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello predicts the ban will not be harshly enforced, at least not initially.
“I think you’d have to light up in front of a police officer after he tells you not to,” Rosenello told NewsWorks. “I don’t envision people getting issued summonses.”
Wildwood and North Wildwood plan to play a pre-recorded message about the ban throughout the summer to keep visitors informed.
If you’re looking forward to escaping smoke clouds, keep in mind the ban will not apply to the actual beach, where public smoking is still allowed.
Only four public beaches along the Jersey Shore have banned smoking. They include Longport, Cape May Point, Harvey Cedars and Seaside Park. Efforts to ban smoking on the beach in the city of Cape May met too much opposition in 2011 to pass.
