The Arlington City Council voted 7-0 on Monday to make the city’s parks tobacco and e-cigarette free, a move that comes both out of concerns for public health and to reduce litter, but also to give city parks staff and law enforcement another tool to apprehend criminal suspects.
In the development process of the proposed ban, public safety director Bruce Stedman told the city council on Aug. 5 that such a law would allow police to detain those whom they suspected of crimes, according to the Arlington Times.
The ban applies to parks and trails in the city, as well as parking lots adjacent to those areas, and comes with a class 2 misdemeanor penalty and fines of up to $125 for those in violation. The ordinance as it was presented at the meeting can be found here.
The ordinance will go into effect five days after the date of its publication by summary.
Arlington is located in northern Snohomish County, approximately 50 miles north of Seattle. It is home to approximately 18,000 residents.