CARLSBAD — The city of Carlsbad has joined the list of cities up and down the coast to ban smoking on its beaches, parks and trails.

At the July 22 meeting, council voted anonymously to ban smoking on the beaches, at lagoons and at parks. Trails were already considered smoke-free, city officials said, as a fire safety precaution.

“Our entire coastline in San Diego is now smoke-free,” Gena Knutson, program manager with Vista Community Clinic’s Tobacco Control Program, said. “People don't realize that tobacco not only destroys the lives of countless individuals and their families through illness and death, it also destroys the environment. This is a great day for San Diego County.”

“I am thrilled that Carlsbad has taken this step to protect not only its citizens but its wildlife as well,” Candice Porter of the San Dieguito Alliance said. “One family in particular led the crusade to get this passed and the success of this ordinance truly goes to them.”

Carlsbad’s smoking ban will take effect in 30 days and will include all city parks, trails, lagoons, local and state beaches. Smoking will be allowed only in designated areas.

Over the last four years, various groups, including the Carlsbad High School Environmental Club, Vista Community Clinic-Tobacco Control Program, San Dieguito Alliance for Drug Free Youth, Surfrider Foundation and Teens for Tomorrow, have continually approached the city asking them to ban smoking on their beaches.

In 2003, Solana Beach became the first city in the county to ban smoking on its beaches and in parks, according to Solana Beach Mayor Joe Kellejian, who addressed the Carlsbad City Council earlier this year, urging them to follow suit.

Kellejian said he felt a sense of responsibility, as a member of the City Council, to address what he saw as a “disconnect.”

“We’re encouraging youth to use the beaches for a clean and healthy lifestyle, but yet allowing for a product which is injurious to ones health,” he said.

Although many of the beaches within the city of Carlsbad are state-owned, the city still holds jurisdiction, said city attorney Ronald Ball. Therefore, the city can adopt its own rules and regulations on the state beaches.

“Ownership is not the keystone, the keystone here is jurisdiction,” Ball said.

Implementing and enforcing the ordinance would be no different than what is done with restrictions on dogs, bicycles and alcohol, he said. The city has a similar agreement with the state regarding its alcohol ban.