EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

WINDHAM - While supporters say banning smoking on the town beach will keep children safe, opponents want to know what human rights will be taken away next.

Windham became the fourth community in the "Live Free or Die" state to prohibit smoking on its beach last night after selectmen voted 3-1 to adopt a ban.

The measure, like a proposed statewide ban on smoking in restaurants and bars, has been divisive.

"When I was a kid, I was at the beach a lot and now I have skin cancer," said resident Bob Coole. "Maybe we should close the beach except on rainy or cloudy days."

Coole echoed the sentiments of the few residents who attended the public hearing. Three residents spoke against the ban last night in contrast to the two who expressed support for the measure at an informational session last week.

The Board of Selectmen adopted the ban after about an hour of debate, with Selectman Roger Hohenberger voting against the policy. Chairman Al Carpenter did not attend the meeting.

Selectman Margaret Crisler, whose mother died from lung cancer, said the decision would keep children away from harmful secondhand smoke.

"We shouldn't subject children to this," Crisler said.

But Coole and Hohenberger said they worried about the precedent the ban could set.

"I think what we're doing here is dangerous," Hohenberger said. "What right do we have to tell somebody how to live?"

The regulation prohibits people from using pipes, cigars, cigarettes and anything else to smoke tobacco on town beach property, including the parking lot. It is to be enforced by the Police Department and violators may face fines of up to $1,000.

"I have no interest in trying to regulate lifestyles," Vice Chairman Dennis Senibaldi said. "It's about a safety issue ... I don't think children should be exposed to it."

The matter first came up a few weeks ago when Recreation Director Cheryl Hass suggested setting up a separate area on the beach for smokers.

She said lifeguards often have to stop children from playing with cigarette butts and adding them to the tops of their sand castles. The small beach leaves little space for people to escape secondhand smoke, the selectmen said, and Hass also worried that children running across the beach could be burned by lit cigarettes.

Last week, the selectmen took the debate a step further and considered enacting a smoking ban for all town recreational property. Those in favor of such a measure argued that prohibiting smoking on fields and in parks would set a good example for children. But after lengthy debate and several proposals, the board decided that people may not be bothered by secondhand smoke at other recreation areas, which are larger than the town beach.

Those opposed to the smoking ban agreed that people should refrain from lighting up on the beach, but still wanted to designate a smoking area.

"If I'm going to be there for four or five hours with my kids, what am I supposed to do?" asked resident Galen Stearns.

But Senibaldi compared allowing smoking on the small town beach to having a smoking section on an airplane. And the board was concerned that if it designated a smoking area, parents might leave their children on the beach unattended.

Coole called the ban discriminatory; Hohenberger said it was ludicrous.

"We used to pride ourselves on being the 'Live Free or Die' state," Hohenberger said. "We're starting to drift into this area where we're subjected to the rule of the few."

Hass said Holderness, Peterborough and Wakefield have similar smoking bans on their beaches.

Keene adopted the state's first restaurant smoking ban in 2001. In Manchester, smoking is prohibited at circuses, carnivals and other amusement venues. In Concord, the use of all tobacco products is prohibited at six of the city's 18 public parks and playgrounds. The remaining 12 parks have specific areas for tobacco use.

The regulation will go into effect immediately in time for the beach's opening June 9.