Lancaster County’s parks will join “other municipalities that have adopted the resolution:Adamstown, Lititz, Denver, East Donegal, Elizabethtown, Ephrata, Lancaster city and township, Mountville, Mount Joy, Penn, Warwick, West Cocalico, West Hempfield and West Lampeter.”

“Children’s playground areas in Lancaster County’s Central and D.F. Buchmiller parks would become tobacco-free zones under a resolution the county commissioners are expected to approve today.

“The two parks would join those in more than a dozen county municipalities that have taken similar steps in their parks.

“The resolution is based on a model from the YWCA and Lancaster General Hospital that was developed by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Tobacco Control Project to combat child tobacco use.

An estimated 3,900 children each day try their first cigarette, and one-third of them will go on to die prematurely of a tobacco-related illness, according to the resolution.

Paul Weiss, the county’s parks and recreation administrator, said only the playgrounds will be included because the county wanted to strike a balance between respecting adults’ right to smoke and children’s health.

“‘The playgrounds at this point are pretty much a no-brainer,’ he said.

“The pool at Central Park has had a designated smoking area for several years, Weiss said.

“Though the county has nine parks, only Central and Buchmiller have playground areas. Central has four, outside the pool, and Buchmiller has one.

“The YWCA will provide signs for the county to post at the playgrounds. The signs will be similar to those placed in other municipalities that have adopted the resolution over the past 15 months, said Angela Trout, a YWCA spokeswoman.

“The park signs also will have a QR code that smartphone users can scan to link to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Tobacco Control Project’s website, Trout said.”

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