Smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em? Not in Roswell city parks.

Or at least, nowhere except in the parks’ designated smoking areas. Problem is, no one has yet pinned down where those designated areas might be.

City council members passed an ordinance Monday night restricting smoking in all parks except for certain areas. The Roswell Recreation Commission is now charged with determining in what portion of the parks smokers can light up legally. The commission had originally proposed an outright ban on all smoking there.

While no one on council disputed the harmful effects of secondhand smoke on others near a smoker, several seemed troubled by a blanket prohibition.

“Where is the right of the smoker intersecting with the right of a non-smoker not to breathe secondhand smoke?” asked newly seated Councilwoman Betty Price. “I think it behooves us to find a place a person can smoke without infringing on others’ right to clean air.”

Councilwoman Lori Henry, a former smoker, said her husband must go outside on their home’s deck to smoke. “I have no problem with restricting smoking,” she said, “but I really find a total ban unreasonable.”

She suggested allowing smoking near dumpsters in the parks, but other council members noted that could be a fire hazard. Still, no one on council could come up with a better suggestion.

After the ordinance was first read last month, the council sent it back to the recreation commission, suggesting that smoking might be allowed in some circumstances, such as in private vehicles in the parking lots.

But Bob Grieco, who chairs the recreation commission, told council Monday that commission members failed to come to consensus on where smoking could be permitted within a park’s boundaries.

“From park to park there are a lot of places where parking spaces are right up against the playground,” he said. “We thought a total ban was a stronger statement against smoking.”

At council’s direction, however, the commission once again will have to tackle the issue of designated smoking areas. Whatever proposals are engendered will have to be approved by council.