If you decide to smoke in downtown Glenwood Springs, you’re taking a pricey gamble.
Glenwood Springs police have issued 34 smoking tickets in downtown during the first year since the law took effect.
The smoking tickets are up to $200 a pop for first offenders. Police Chief Terry Wilson said that expensive fine is probably sending the message, as officers haven’t issued many second-offense tickets.
The ban is in effect between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. in the downtown core, from Fifth Street to 11th Street, and generally extends two blocks on both sides of Grand Avenue. Also covered are the Sixth Street hotel district, public parks and trails, as well as 25 feet around transit bus stops, schools and school bus stops.
Officers keep an eye out for people violating the ban during the evenings and afternoons when the opportunity arises, but that might not be all that often, Wilson said. It just depends on the staffing and call load that day, he said.
The chief said enforcing the smoking ban isn’t his department’s top priority. When the department is short-staffed, and especially when dealing with Grand Avenue bridge issues, finding officers who have time to wander around looking for smokers doesn’t happen often.
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