texas

Fort Worth Could Soon Ban Smoking in Parks

Smoking inside Fort Worth bars will soon be a thing of the past. On Monday, the city's smoking ordinance goes into effect banning smoking in bars and bingo parlors.

City parks could be next on the list.

The Fort Worth City Council discussed a possible ordinance to ban smoking in city parks on Tuesday.

"For me, what I want to do is change the smoking ordinances of the properties that we control," said Councilman Cary Moon.

Moon said the potential ordinance would include a ban on all city parks. However, he said there would be a few exceptions.

"One would be like concerts in the gardens. We would have a designated smoking area, and then our publicly owned gold courses," he said.

Moon said he would also like to see the ban extend to city sidewalks, but that would probably not happen as it's difficult to enforce.

Fort Worth is the only large city in Texas that still allows smoking in parks.

Staff will bring back an ordinance in a few weeks for the council to vote on.

If it does pass, there will be signs placed around the parks to help enforce the ban.

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