WATCH: Residents of an East Vancouver neighbourhood are fed up with the mess being left behind by cigarette smokers at their local park. Jennifer Palma reports.
East Vancouver’s Grandview Park is a great place for families to get together and cool off on a hot summer day, but residents are fed up with the thousands of cigarette butts and garbage some parkgoers are leaving behind.
“It’s pretty gross,” said resident D.J. MacKinnon. “It’s a big ashtray.”
“There are bylaws against smoking in the park and…they’re not enforced in any way,” said another concerned resident.
Residents like MacKinnon are taking matters into their own hands, spending Saturday morning collecting hundreds of cigarette butts. It is illegal to smoke in Vancouver parks with fines running from $50 to $1,000. Last year 122 warnings were issued, and 10 fines of $ 250 were handed out.
The Park Board says its considering a pilot program for Grandview Park.
“We’re looking at piloting the installation of butt receptacles and Grandview Park would be a fantastic location for a pilot like that,” said Vancouver Park Board Vice-Chair Sarah Kirby-Yung.
In addition to being an eyesore, cigarette butts are a fire hazard. Earlier this week, there were four brush fires in West Vancouver and the fire department says they were all likely caused by discarded cigarettes.
-with files from Jennifer Palma and Amy Judd
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