26 August 2024
By Mary Hammon, Planetizen
City officials in Cumberland, Maryland, say smoking and use of smokeless tobacco products have deterred visitors to its downtown pedestrian mall and hopes the ban will make the area more welcoming.
The city of Cumberland, Maryland (pop. 19,000) has banned smoking and use of products like snuff and chewing tobacco in the public right of way in its historic downtown shopping district, according to an article in the Cumberland Times. The new ordinance applies to four blocks of Baltimore Street, which is also the focus of Reimagine Cumberland — a revitalization project aimed at redesigning and renovating the Baltimore Street pedestrian shopping mall to create “a stable, sustainable engine of culture, commerce, and community to propel the City to economic health, prosperity, and vitality,” according to the official project website. The project officially broke ground last year after nearly ten years of planning.
The ordinance states that the mayor and city council believe smoking and use of smokeless tobacco have been an “an impediment to attracting shoppers, potential restaurant patrons, and others from coming to the mall,” and that prohibiting its use will “make Baltimore Street in the area of the mall more welcoming to the public at large.” Violators of the new ordinance will be fined $50 for first offense, $100 for the second, and $500 for subsequent offenses.