The Town of Sylvan Lake is considering some changes to its Smoke Free Bylaw.

(photo from recent open house in Sylvan Lake revealing proposed regulations for legal cannabis, the town has decided consumption related rules will be contained in a separate bylaw as they look to amend the current smoke free bylaw)

Some of the amendments that council recently gave first reading to include updating the definition of smoking and ensuring that hookah's, e-cigarettes and vapes are included.

And as Communications Officer Joanne Gaudet explains, some stricter rules in terms of where you can smoke.

“So changing the distance allowance from smoking from an entrance or exit from 3 meters to now the proposed 5 meters.  In addition we are proposing that we restrict smoking within public parks, playground properties, school properties, sports fields, skate parks, bike parks, and outdoor theatres”.

The no-smoking subject has come up regularly over the years according to Gaudet, with the influx of visitors to their community a motivating factor.

“In terms of ensuring that our visitors all have an equally enjoyable experience and now that we have ownership of the previous provincial park property, we have additional land over at the previous waterslide property, it was a really good time to review our smoke free regulations and update them as well as expand them somewhat”.

The bylaw amendments still need to return to Council for 2nd and 3rd reading.