CAPE ELIZABETH – The Cape Elizabeth Town Council voted 6-1 Monday, with Molly MacAuslan opposed, to approve a ban on smoking at Fort Williams Park.

With this week’s vote, the prohibition, which includes the use of all tobacco-related products, will go into effect in time for the busy summer tourist season.

Fort Williams is home to Portland Head Light and receives about a million visitors per year, according to the town’s website.

Those caught violating the smoking ban would face a $250 fine. Robert Malley, Cape Elizabeth’s public works director, said signs announcing that the park is now tobacco-free would go up at various strategic locations in order to inform the public of the new rules.

The proposal to create a smoke-free Fort Williams follows similar efforts in other nearby communities to keep tobacco products from being used in public parks and other open spaces. Also, within the past several years, the state of Maine banned smoking in all state parks.

– Kate Irish Collins