WINDHAM - After an hour of debate, consideration of several proposals and a close vote, the selectmen decided last night to create a policy to ban smoking at the town beach.

But even though Selectman Bruce Breton said he received nearly 170 phone calls in support of a smoking ban, only three people showed up for last night's public information session - including two residents who mostly had questions.

It came down to a 3-2 vote in support of restrictions that moved the proposal forward - with concern for public health outweighing debate over personal freedoms.

"It's a worthwhile thing to do for our children; it's a worthwhile thing to do for all of us," Breton said. The proposed policy will be drafted by town officials and the Recreation Department, with a public hearing before the selectmen and then a vote scheduled for Monday.

Chairman Alan Carpenter, a former smoker who voted against the ban, supported designating a section of the beach for smokers.

"If we have 10 percent of residents who smoke, they're still residents, they still pay taxes," Carpenter said last night. "This is not only America, this is New Hampshire and if they want to do that to themselves, they have a right to."

Selectmen discussed several proposals last night before settling on a regulation that would prohibit smoking at the beach. The idea was originally brought to the board last week by Recreation Director Cheryl Hass, who hopes to have a policy in place before the beach opens for the season June 9.

Hass' suggestion was taken a step further by the board, which discussed prohibiting smoking on all town recreational property.

Beth Lippold, the only resident last night to voice strong support for the ban, said she is concerned about secondhand smoke and the possibility children playing on the beach could be burned by a lit cigarette.

"I don't think it's fair to little kids," she said.

As for a proposal reviewed by the selectmen to stop people from smoking on recreation fields and playgrounds, Lippold said "smoking and athletics don't really go hand in hand."

But Selectman Roger Hohenberger said regulating smoking could force the board down "a slippery slope."

"As much as I don't condone smoking around children, I also don't condone trying to legislate lifestyles," he said. "If this is totally about health, there are so many other things we should look at banning, like trans-fats."

But Vice Chairman Dennis Senibaldi disagreed.

"You don't die of secondhand French fry inhaling," he said.

The focus moved away from regulating smoking on all town property after it became clear the Recreation Department was primarily concerned about the beach.

Carpenter said while he understood the concerns about smoking on the beach where a little smoke could bother a lot of people, parks and athletic fields leave plenty of room for smokers to walk away from the crowd.

"Let's not fix a problem that doesn't exist," he said.

Breton agreed that while smoking on other properties may not lead to complaints, he still supported the ban on all recreational property.

"It may not be a problem in Griffin Park, but it is an example we can set and lead by and it won't become a problem," he said.

Having a designated smoking area at the beach raised concerns that parents might leave their children unsupervised when going to smoke. A proposal that would have set aside a portion of the beach as a smoking area was rejected.

While Carpenter and Hohenberger opposed the overall smoking ban, Breton, Senibaldi and Margaret Crisler voted in support.

Since banning smoking from public property is a controversial subject at the state and local levels, Town Administrator David Sullivan said he was "frankly shocked" and "very surprised" that more people did not attend last night's session.

Selectmen will next meet Monday at 7 p.m. in the town Planning and Development Department.