Collegedale resident David Barto doesn't like getting in the car and smelling like cigarette smoke after leaving the city's Imagination Station playground.
"I've been down there several times with the kids in the late afternoon and you'll have 25-30 kids, 15 or so adults and at least one to two people chain smoking," he said. "I'm proposing we do a smoking ban at the playgrounds, picnic areas and other communal areas, but not on the greenway itself."
City Attorney Sam Elliott is currently in the process of drafting an ordinance to ban smoking in community areas. The City Commission will vote on two readings of the ordinance; a public hearing will be part of the second reading.
To find out what's on the Commission's agenda and when, visit collegedaletn.gov.
Barto said he didn't want to speak for the members of the Commission but based on his recommendation, he felt they were supportive of the smoking ban.
"It seems reasonable to ask that they would consider the overall health and safety of the kids," he said.
Cities like East Ridge have already banned smoking in public parks and downtown Chattanooga's Riverbend Festival and Nightfall Concert Series have designated specific areas for smokers. Barto said he was encouraged by these decisions to make the recommendation in Collegedale.
"If I don't smoke and don't want my children around it, why would I take them somewhere where there are always people smoking," he said. "I think the majority of other parents feel the same way."