BATH

Bath City Council voted unanimously Wednesday on first passage to ban the use of electronic cigarettes or other vaping products within 25 feet of city parks and recreational facilities.

The new ordinance would put vaping products under the same legal constraints as tobacco products in Bath, which were already banned at park and recreational property managed by the city. This action was recommended by the Bath Recreation Commission in its October meeting.

“This is pretty straightforward. It’s actually just adding the vaping and e-cigarette language to the current ordinance limiting tobacco use on our facilities. Most communities that are passing this ordinance now are using that language within that,” said Steve Balboni, director of Parks and Recreation in Bath.

The ordinance will receive a public hearing at the Dec. 7 city council meeting, when councilors will vote on a second passage.

The decision to include vaping products in tobacco-related ordinances follows similar decisions at the state level and other communities. In 2015, the Maine Legislature voted to amend laws banning tobacco use in public places to include vaping products, and several communities, including Portland, have acted similarly.

Recreational marijuana use was also discussed at the city council meeting. Councilor James Omo questioned whether the tobacco ordinance would have to be amended to include marijuana. City Manager Bill Girioux and Balboni clarified that recreational use of marijuana in public would already be prohibited under language contained in Question 1 on the Nov. 8 ballot.

In reference to that citizen initiative, Girioux also recommended that the city council wait before exploring a possible recreational marijuana moratorium. While some Maine municipalities have pursued moratoriums to allow time to put regulations and zoning limitations in place prior to the potential legalization of recreational marijuana, Girioux suggested that there was plenty of time for the city to explore the issue while the state undergoes its rule making process.

“It’s probably a good idea for us to just wait, see what happens at the polls, and not panic,” said Girioux. “If it does pass, we could start thinking about maybe giving the planning board direction or asking the planning board to look at what zones would be appropriate for retail recreational marijuana or the social clubs that are called out in the law.”

Another item discussed at Wednesday’s meeting was the possibility of creating a request for proposals to develop the former YMCA site. That will be further discussed at the December meeting.

nstrout@timesrecord.com

Public hearing

• THE VAPING products ordinance will receive a public hearing at the Dec. 7 Bath City Council meeting, when councilors will vote on a second passage.