CARLSBAD — The city of Carlsbad moved one step closer to banning smoking on beaches, parks and trails when the council directed staff to put together an ordinance May 6, which will return to council for final vote at a later date.

Supporters of the proposed ordinance spoke out at the council meeting, urging council to consider a ban.

If the ordinance is adopted later this month, Carlsbad will become the last coastal city in San Diego County to prohibit smoking at its beaches, parks and trails.

In 2003, Solana Beach became the first city in the county to ban smoking on its beaches and in parks, said Solana Beach Mayor Joe Kellejian, who addressed the Carlsbad City Council, urging them to follow suit.

Kellejian said he felt a sense of responsibility, as a member of the City Council, to address what he saw as a “disconnect.”

“We’re encouraging youth to use the beaches for a clean and healthy lifestyle, but yet allowing for a product which is injurious to one’s health,” Kellejian said.

Since 2003, every coastal city in the county except Carlsbad has voted to ban smoking on their beaches.

Local students spearheaded the campaign in Solana Beach as well as the one in Carlsbad.

The proposal was brought to the Solana Beach council by students who had collected more than 6,000 cigarette butts in an hour-long beach cleanup.

That “graphic” display, Kellejian said, prompted the first ban on smoking in the state.

In 2005, the Carlsbad High School Environmental Club made a presentation to the Carlsbad City Council requesting that a Smoke-Free Ordinance be adopted for the city parks and beaches, and had little success.

In 2007, Carlsbad High School student Michael Caraglio, following in his sister Angela’s footsteps, made a presentation to the Parks and Recreation Commission. The commission recommended it be brought before council.

Although many of the beaches within the city of Carlsbad are state-owned, the city still holds jurisdiction, said city attorney Ronald Ball. Therefore, the city can adopt its own rules and regulations on the state beaches.

“Ownership is not the keystone, the keystone here is jurisdiction,” Ball told the council, as members discussed the possibility of a new ordinance on state-owned beaches within the city.

Implementing and enforcing the ordinance would be no different than what is done with restrictions on dogs, bicycles and alcohol, Ball said.

A number of speakers took the podium to address City Council before members directed staff to put together an ordinance to bring back for a vote later in the month.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Councilwoman Julie Nygaard about the ban. “I think it is a really good thing for the city of Carlsbad.”