Unanswered Questions In Smoke-free SA

When the city rolled out its sweeping smoking cigarettes ban this summer, eager to make the Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights list of smoke-free cities, the winners and losers were obvious. The winners: bars that already had sizable patios, cigar bars, and, many would argue, anyone with a set of lungs looking to imbibe clear of a carcinogenic cloud. Unaffected Alamo Heights’ bar and restaurant district sits ready to catch cigarette-puffing refugees aching for a drag while they sip their cocktails. And despite inclusion in early drafts of the ordinance, VFW posts, the River Walk, and the Shrine of Texas Liberty itself all escaped the ban. But if you’re an everyday pub, sports bar, or dive without a patio or enough space to build one: tough luck.

Judy Simpson, general manager at Finnegan’s on US 281 near Thousand Oaks, wagered her neighborhood pub has taken a 25-30 percent hit in sales. The future’s “looking a little better but not much,” Simpson said, as she and the landlord hash out plans for a patio.

Initially, Simpson considered building a properly cordoned smoking cigarettes area with fencing, chairs, tables, and ashtrays on her front sidewalk. But complications arose from the presence of an ADA accessible ramp and the need for full visibility. Currently, the bar is separated from the front sidewalk by a vestibule with two sets of double doors. The lack of visibility invites patrons to walk off with drinks or, worse, pass them to minors. “What we’re trying to do is build a place you can smoke cigarettes where you can take your drink and don’t feel like you’ve been ostracized from the rest of the bar,” she said. Simpson expects building to begin in December and complete sometime in January. She’s not worried about closing or laying anyone off. For now.

In puff-friendly Alamo Heights, the Broadway 5050 is catching the overflow, says General Manager and managing partner Danny Barborak. “People who have a cocktail often want a cigarette. … I’d say we’ve got some people stopping in here for a drink or two because it’s now a treat to smoke cigarettes inside,” he said, estimating sales have risen a few percentage points since the San Antonio ban began.

Meanwhile, for Alibis on Commerce east of US 281 and two of the Blue Star bars, business has marched forward with nary a hiccup since each had patios before the smoke-ban rollout.

Scott Saulle, who slings spirits at both Joe Blue’s on South Alamo and Joey’s on North St. Mary’s, said the ban hasn’t so much reduced the crowds, just shuffled them around a bit. Patrons now tend to crowd Joeys’ cozy, two-floor patio (which features an outside bar on weekends) instead of the smokeless indoors. “On a Wednesday night, I might have three people sitting at the bar and 25 people sitting outside,” he said. “It’s really weird.”

Joe Blue’s and Alibis both sport wraparound patios. Business at the former is unchanged, Saulle said. And according to Joey’s head waitress Lisa Gonzales, diehard indoor smokers have simply been swapped by customers who would likely jet after one drink on account of smoke. Save for the crowd redistribution and the occasional intense debate on the ban, patron traffic is virtually unchanged.

Alibis General Manager Tracey Thurman said the same, though her clientele, who like a smoke cigarettes while dancing or punching her touch-screen games, are mildly inconvenienced to step out. “We have a strong regular crowd,” she said. “Everything from bankers to bikers.”

Ron Herrera, co-owner of SoHo Martini & Wine Bar, says he’s lost a few dedicated cigar smokers, but on the whole the clientele has adjusted. They simply step outside to his tiny patio and light up. “Are we okay? Yeah,” he said. “I just don’t like being told how to run my own business.”

But the question remains: as a cigar bar, should Herrera’s patrons even have to step outside for a drag?

Herrera assumed SoHo was ban-exempt, falling under the umbrella term “retail cigarettes store store” in the city’s ordinance. On the Friday after the ban went into effect, Herrera said he got a call from the Mayor’s office, telling him he couldn’t keep his cigar-bar status if he continued to sell food, which apparently includes typical drink garnish like lemons, limes, and olives in cocktails (SoHo doesn’t carry the snacks found at some more traditional bars, like wings, fries, and pizza). Though Herrera found the logic a little baffling, he complied, saying the mayor’s rep threatened to sic a public health official on the bar if he didn’t. A city health employee still visited the following Monday to double down, he said.

Metro Health records show nobody’s filed a complaint against SoHo since the smoking cigarettes ban went into effect, but here’s where the new ordinance gets slippery. The new piece of city code uses the term “bar” to describe a place a lot like SoHo, which is an “establishment that is devoted to the serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption by guests.” But SoHo also sells cigars to patrons (though it’s unclear how many of late), and the new ordinance doesn’t say whether discount cigarette online products must make up a certain percent of sales in order to become an exempt “tobacco retail establishment” or “cigar bar” — only that the place is “utilized primarily for the sale of online cigarettes products.” And Herrera’s brush with city officials seems especially peculiar considering patrons at neighboring Swig Martini Bar above the River Walk continue to smoke cigarettes away — indoors.

Over the phone, Swig General Manager Michael Teran was uneasy discussing the matter, saying, “I don’t want to put a target on our backs.”

A list Metro Health provided to the Current show citizens have called in some 30 times since the ban complaining that a number of stores, private clubs, and bars are out of line with the new policy, Swig being one of them. Just three days after the ban went into effect, a customer called Metro Health complaining patrons were puffing away inside the bar. A Metro Health worker who followed up “observed employees smoking cigarettes upon entry to establishment. Owner was using the old muni-code (which has not been updated) as a basis to smoke,” the complaint states. Metro Health gave Swig a warning not to smoke cigarettes inside the bar, advising they put up some non-smoking cigarettes signage.

According to Metro Health spokeswoman Carol Schliesinger, the city has yet to fine any establishment for breaking the ban. Under the ordinance, a first-time violation carries a fine of up to $200. Repeat offenders could get smacked with fines of $500 to $2,000.

Schliesinger says the only guide Metro Health has for the tobacco shop and cigar bar-exemptions is the short, one-sentence blurb in the city code, which appears to leave much up to interpretation. “What’s written in the ordinance, that’s basically the only definition that we have [for cigar bars], at least at this point,” she said.

“The code doesn’t say anything about how much [tobacco] we have to sell,” Teran said. He then recited a piece of the new policy: “Under those exempt, it says, ‘Shall include but not be limited to cigar bars and humidors.’ We fit that.” We’ll see what the Mayor’s office thinks.

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City Council Considering Snuffing Out Smoke Shops

With a fourth smoke cigarettes shop in Tooele City opening last month, the Tooele City Council is now considering an ordinance restricting the location of new shops that specialize in cheap cigarettes and tobacco-related products.

Tooele City Council Chairman Scott Wardle requested that Roger Baker, city attorney, research and prepare a draft ordinance after Wardle noticed a smoke cigarettes shop opening at 80 W. Vine Street. The shop is less than one block from the city library and three blocks from Tooele High School, and that’s a problem, Wardle said.

“As its stands now, with no restrictions another smoke cigarettes shop could open up across from the USU campus or down at the Overlake roundabout next to an elementary and junior high school,” said Wardle. “That is just not acceptable.” The proposed ordinance is designed not to ban smoke cigarettes shops, but protect the community, according to Wardle.

“These places sell products that are detrimental to youth,” said Wardle. “Research indicates a link between these type of shops and an increase in use of discount cigarettes by youth. Locating smoke cigarettes shops near schools and public places is a way of marketing to our youth.”

The new ordinance would require that cheap cigarette online shops — defined as a shop that sells exclusively or primarily tobacco and tobacco products — be 1,500 hundred feet from schools, residences and public places such as parks and libraries. Existing smoke cigarettes shops would not be affected by the new ordinance.

Councilman Steve Pruden, who works as the director of the LDS Tooele Institute of Religion near Tooele High School, agrees with Wardle’s concern.

“We have an underage smoking cigarettes problem in Tooele. I see students trying to hide behind the Institute building and smoke cigarettes everyday,” said Pruden. “Kids have to walk by these places and they will see every day a message promoting tobacco use.”

And it’s not just tobacco that Wardle is concerned about.

“These places sell other products that are not good,” said Wardle. “The Legislature outlawed Spice, synthetic marijuana, but manufacturers of Spice have found a way around the law by changing the formula. Spice is now being sold again in smoke cigarettes shops.”

Councilman Mike Johnson was skeptical about the effectiveness of an ordinance restricting the location of smoke cigarettes shops.

“If kids want to get tobacco, they are going to find a way to get it,” said Johnson. “Shouldn’t our efforts be focused on education in the community, schools, and in the home?”

Johnson asked Baker to look into the legality of requiring people to be at least 18 years old to go into a smoke cigarettes shop.

Dave McCall, while not opposing the ordinance, urged caution regarding its wording.

“I think we have to be careful about directing what kind of business people can and can’t open up,” McCall said. “It is not that I disagree with the ordinance but we have to be careful about the wording, if we do this what is next?”

The city of Sandy has an ordinance restricting smoke cigarettes shops to areas zoned for industry, Baker said. Sandy is the only other city whose ordinance on smoke cigarettes shops Baker has examined.

State and city codes require establishments that serve or sell alcohol to be 200 feet in a straight line and 600 feet as a pedestrian would walk from a school, church or public place including parks, playgrounds, and libraries.Wardle said he plans to put the smoke cigarettes shop ordinance on the agenda for the Nov. 16 city council meeting.

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Poll Shows Support For Natrona County Smoking Ordinance

Two-thirds of Natrona County voters favor an ordinance that would prohibit smoking cigarettes in all indoor businesses and public places, according to a poll released today.

The poll also found that voters, by nearly the same margin, rank the right to breathe clean air above the right of business owners to set their own smoking cigarettes rules.

The advocacy group Smokefree Natrona County commissioned the poll, which was performed by Keating Research Inc. of Colorado. The firm polled 854 registered voters in Natrona County in May and June.

Smokefree Natrona County wants the Casper City Council to pass an ordinance that would eliminate smoking cigarettes in all indoor workplaces, including bars and restaurants. The poll suggests the community recognizes the need for such a law, said Smokefree volunteer Neil Short.

“With two out of every three voters of Natrona County backing an ordinance such as this, then it’s a mandate to the City Council to go forward with this,” he said. “It’s a serious health issue.”

Nearly 60 percent of voters in the poll considered second-hand smoke cigarettes a serious health threat. Another one-third classified it a moderate or minor hazard.

A 2010 report from the U.S. Surgeon General indicated limited exposure to cigarettes store smoke cigarettes can cause immediate damage to the body and trigger heart attacks.

Smokefree Natrona County commissioned the poll after hearing from council members who wanted to gauge public support for a smoking cigarettes ordinance, according to Rachel Bailey, the group’s campaign manager.

“We’ve kind of given them the information and the tools that they’ve requested,” Bailey said. “I think it’s up to them now to make a decision of what they feel is best to their community.”

The group plans to bring its request to the City Council before year’s end.

Council debate

The poll’s findings have Councilwoman Kenyne Schlager leaning in the smoke-free direction, although she’s not yet decided whether to support an ordinance, she said.

Schlager avoids places that allow smoking cigarettes, but said she tries to balance her personal feelings with business owners’ desires to make their own choices. When it comes time to make a decision, she wants to base hers on the public’s desires.

“The study makes me feel a little bit better that this is what the majority of our community wants to see happen,” she said.

A handful of Wyoming cities, including Laramie and Cheyenne, have enacted smoking cigarettes ordinances. The health effects of those laws haven’t been studied, but a 2004 study showed heart-attack admissions in Helena, Mont., dropped when the city enacted a smoking cigarettes ban and rose when the law was suspended.

In 2000, the Casper City Council passed its own restaurant smoking cigarettes ban. Opponents launched a petition drive that put the matter to a citywide referendum and voters overturned the ban.

Mayor Paul Bertoglio voted against the ordinance in 2000 and said the poll doesn’t change his stance on the issue. Although a nonsmoker himself, Bertoglio said the decision to prohibit smoking cigarettes should be left to business owners.

“I put my belief in private property rights and personal responsibility,” he said.

In the past few years, several businesses in Casper — including two of the city’s three bowling alleys — chose to ban smoking cigarettes. Bertoglio believes the trend will continue — without the council forcing the issue.

“I vote with my pocketbook and my feet,” he said. “Everybody has the opportunity to do it.”

But some businesses in Casper continue to expose customers and workers to harmful second-hand smoke, Bailey said. An air-quality study performed this year at 15 local bars and restaurants that allow smoking cigarettes found full-time workers were exposed to pollution levels four times higher than what is considered safe by federal regulators.

“We fully support businesses that went smoke-free,” Bailey said. “But unfortunately, not everyone is going to make that choice to protect their employees and their patrons.”

How it may affect businesses

Business owners themselves are divided over the effect of a workplace smoking cigarettes ban. Some worry about alienating longtime smoking cigarettes customers, while others hope to use a nonsmoking cigarettes environment to attract more families with children.

Only 4 percent of voters would visit restaurants and bars less often if the city prohibited smoking cigarettes in businesses, according to the poll. In comparison, 35 percent said they would visit bars and restaurants more often.

El Mark-O Lanes became a nonsmoking cigarettes bowling alley in June. The reaction from customers has been overwhelmingly positive, said owner Matt Galloway.

A few people complained. But hundreds said they were happy with the change.

“It was a very difficult decision,” Galloway said. “We’ve been smoking cigarettes for so long. So many customers that are loyal, we didn’t want to feel we were alienating them. But we’ve made a conscious health decision ... it boils down to that.”

Eagle Bowl is now the city’s only bowling alley that allows smoking cigarettes. Since El Mark-O and Sunrise Lanes banned smoking cigarettes, open bowling at Eagle is up 32 percent, said owner Randy Carlen.

The city currently allows business owners to decide whether to allow smoking cigarettes. Carlen believes it should stay that way.

“It’s a free country,” he said. “Smoking is legal. That’s the way I look at it.”

Carlen worries that some of his smoking cigarettes customers would desert him if the council enacts the ordinance. Many come because they want a place to smoke.

Brian Horner is one. The 35-year-old was smoking cigarettes discount cigarette online with friends at Eagle Bowl on Friday night.

Smoking is a daily part of Horner’s routine. He generally avoids businesses where he can’t light up.

“Quite honestly, if there is an ordinance that says I can’t smoke cigarettes anywhere, well, then, I’ll stay at home,” he said.

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Restrict Smoking In Outdoor Locations

Lighting up in the Orchard City just got a little trickier.

At the Campbell City Council meeting on Sept. 20, the council approved an ordinance that prohibits smoking cigarettes within outdoor dining areas and public recreational facilities. The city council also directed Campbell staff to research the possibility of establishing a buy cigarette online retailer's license, which would be aimed at curbing the sale of cheap cigarette online to minors.

The item elicited more than an hour of public comment and council discussion before the final 4-1 vote was taken. More than 30 people attended the meeting, several of them wearing T-shirts that read "Live Work Play, Be Tobacco Free."

Vanessa Marvin, a representative of the American Lung Association and Healthy Campbell Coalition, said that both of the public health-focused organizations she belongs to strongly support the strengthening of anti-smoking cigarettes policies.

"We're really excited to see that you're taking steps to protect Campbell residents from deadly secondhand smoke cigarettes and urge you to vote yes on this ordinance and to consider the tobacco retailer licensing ordinance," Marvin said to the council.

She added that through community outreach conducted by the Healthy Campbell Coalition, she has spoken with numerous residents and gathered local opinions on the proposed ordinance.

"We did speak to residents at farmers markets, we went to the Hamann Park National Night Out, the Westchester Park block party, and not all but overwhelmingly [most] residents were really supportive of this and urged you to move forward on this issue," Marvin said.

Many of the people Marvin talked with couldn't make it to the council meeting, but she provided the councilmen with a large pile of endorsement papers signed by supportive residents.

Santa Clara County health officer Dr. Marty Fenstersheib also spoke to the council and commended them for tackling tobacco and smoking cigarettes.

"I want to applaud you and your staff for developing this wonderful draft ordinance on prohibiting smoking cigarettes in outdoor dining and parks," Fenstersheib said. "This is a great effort on the part of the city of Campbell."

He also reminded the council and the public that this issue comes down to majority rule.

"Just remember that 10 percent of our population smokes. The number is low but still not great," Fenstersheib said. "But that means 90 percent of the people don't smoke, so there are a lot of people in those restaurants that don't want to be exposed to secondhand smoke."

He also had some good news for everyone at the meeting. According to Fenstersheib, Santa Clara County was awarded a total of $6.9 million from the federal government to use for tobacco prevention efforts.

The city of Campbell can have $40,000 of those funds, but the money has to be used by March 2012.

"We will give you all the support that you need, but we need you to do this before March," Fenstersheib said.

After closing the public hearing, the city council weighed the different aspects of the proposed ordinance. Mayor Jason Baker was in favor of prohibiting smoking cigarettes in outdoor dining areas and public recreational facilities, but expressed a concern about another problem that might result from doing so.

"We might be creating an unenforceable ordinance and an unintentional litter problem," Baker said.

He explained that although he would like to prevent everyone from smoking cigarettes in parks, it just isn't possible, and that by banning it and eliminating all of the ashtrays in the process, the city might end up with a litter hazard on its hands.

Councilman Jeff Cristina, who cast the sole "no" vote on the issue, felt that the ordinance would force people out of Campbell.

"This frustrates me a bit," Cristina said. "I would hate to see Katie Bloom's, or an establishment like that, have no one outside."

Vice Mayor Mike Kotowski provided the opposite view.

"I would like to see a big sign over the freeway that's says, 'Welcome to Campbell, a smoke-free city,' " Kotowski said, garnering applause from several members of the audience.

Councilman Evan Low agreed that an aggressive approach against smoking cigarettes would best fit the city.

"I would like to see Campbell be the strongest in terms of the tobacco retailer permit, in looking at ways to have funds to do enforcement and to also prevent tobacco use not only among young people but also to prevent tobacco," Low said.

The city council will need to approve a second reading of the ordinance at a future city council meeting, and the issue of the tobacco retailer's license will be researched by staff and brought back to council at a later date.

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Council Continues Smoking Ban Discussion

An ordinance to prohibit smoking cigarettes in Danville's recreational areas was discussed again at Tuesday's Town Council meeting. Despite some debate about smoker's rights, the council voted unanimously to continue the discussion on Sept. 20.

The expanded ordinance, presented by the Parks and Leisure Services Commission, would ban smoking cigarettes in all of Danville's recreational facilities by posting signs, providing education and fining offenders up to $100. Currently, smoking cigarettes is banned within 25 feet of tot lots and playgrounds.

"All patrons (should) enjoy fitness activities without being affected negatively," said Recreation Services Manager Michelle Lacy.
Before the council could come to a conclusion about the ordinance, several members spoke of a partial ban that would allow smoking cigarettes in designated, rented areas.

Councilmember Robert Storer pointed out that by banning smoking cigarettes altogether, the public's rights are reduced when they utilize the recreational areas. Storer cited alcoholic beverage rules in parks and questioned whether the town had a right to prohibit discount cigarette online smoke cigarettes in a rented facility but not liquor.

"I think what we're looking at here is a rights issue. We should at least have the discussion about folks who want the right to smoke cigarettes a cigar or cigarettes in a private, rented area," he said.
Several councilmembers dissented and said that a partial ban would be nearly impossible to enforce.
"Smoke doesn't stay within a container," Vice Mayor Candace Andersen stated.

Seventeen-year-old Danville resident Ryan Levenson said he hoped the ban would be implemented because he believes that the secondhand smoke cigarettes makes parks less pleasurable.

"It's not something we want as kids in our parks," he said. "When I was younger I used to play Mustang Soccer. (Smoking) made it less pleasurable and it effected me playing."

Although the 194 acres of Danville's parks will allow smoking cigarettes for now, Town Manager Joe Calabrigo said that the town is currently in compliance with all state smoking cigarettes laws. If the ban is adopted at the council's next meeting, it will take effect 30 days later on Oct. 20.

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Smoke-free Ordinance Vital For A Healthier Augusta

Tobacco use remains the No. 1 preventable cause of disease and death in the United States, resulting in more than 430,000 deaths a year from personal use and more than 50,000 deaths annually from secondhand smoke cigarettes exposure.

Additionally, in recent years, the surgeon general determined there is no safe level of exposure. We now know that young children not only are at risk from secondhand smoke cigarettes exposure, but also thirdhand smoke cigarettes exposure from the numerous toxic particles, emitted from a cigarette or cigar, that fall and accumulate on common surfaces such as clothes, furniture and carpet.

In older children, secondhand smoke cigarettes exposure is associated with numerous respiratory illnesses resulting in hospitalizations, an increase in asthma symptoms and increased headaches -- all contributing to increased school absenteeism. Children exposed to second-hand smoke cigarettes have demonstrated poorer cognition scores and often poorer academic achievement.

More than 90 percent of all adult smokers begin the habit before they graduate from high school. Children and teens start smoking cigarettes for a variety of reasons, including modeling the behavior they observe in their parents and older siblings, as well as peer pressure.

ONE OF THE MOST effective strategies for prevention is parent modeling of healthy behaviors among young children and establishing an anti-tobacco environment at home. Also, having good communication between parents and children often deters children and teen smoking cigarettes.

Nonetheless, young teens getting a part- or full-time job in today's economically challenged environment often accept employment opportunities in environments laden with secondhand smoke. Because they are the employees, a clean, smoke-free environment often is not an option, and they feel trapped between a job with a toxic environment or unemployment.

But as a community, we can improve those environs as well. Implementation of smoke-free ordinances has resulted in dramatic, sustained reductions in hospitalizations of children for asthma and adults for heart attacks. Also, research has demonstrated that passage of a smoke-free ordinance does not negatively affect the economic welfare of restaurants and bars, but actually contributes to an increase in economic revenues.

Our neighboring communities already have experienced these healthy advances. One of Augusta/Richmond County's closest neighbors, Columbia County, in recent years successfully adopted a smoke-free ordinance.

In August of last year, a sister city, Savannah, adopted the most comprehensive smoke-free environment legislation in Georgia, essentially closing all the loopholes in the state law by requiring all businesses to become smoke-free. Feedback from bar and business owners has been overwhelmingly positive since the ordinance was implemented last January.

THE SELF-ENFORCING nature of the ordinance resulted in a smooth transition to a smoke-free environment with minimal compliance-related issues. It is anticipated that Chatham County will adopt a similar ordinance this fall. In 1990, Georgia Health Sciences University buildings went smoke-free, and sale of tobacco products was prohibited. Four years ago, the campus strengthened its policy to include outdoor space.

As the established leader in providing health profession education and preparing the future health-care leaders and work force of allied health professionals, dentists, nurses, physicians and biomedical and behavioral scientists, Georgia Health Sciences University strongly encourages healthy settings for people of all ages. This includes a smoke-free environment.

As a community gaining increasing notoriety as a health-care destination, we encourage Augusta's citizens and leaders to come together, agree on what is best for the whole and move forward for health with this simple yet far-reaching effort to ensure smoke-free environments for all.

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City Council Bans Smoking On The Strand And Greenbelt

The loopholes for outdoor smoking cigarettes in the city of Manhattan Beach have been closed.

City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday night to prohibit smoking cigarettes on the Strand and along Veterans Parkway (the Valley/Ardmore Greenbelt).

In 2004, City Council banned smoking cigarettes on the beach, the pier and in recreational facilities such as parks, athletic fields, tennis courts and basketball courts.

“The Strand has become a de facto smoking cigarettes room because of the no-smoking cigarettes beach policy,” said resident Craig Cadwallader. “The cigarette butt issue is serious. Cigarette butts are thrown into the sand and the gutters and are toxic to ocean life. I see kids put them in their mouth.”

Interim City Attorney Christi Hogin said the ordinance was prompted by two big conclusions — secondhand smoke cigarettes is hazardous, even outside, and cigarette butts are the primary source of litter.

The U.S. Surgeon General said there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke, which is categorized with toxic automotive and industrial air pollutants. Secondhand smoke cigarettes exposure causes 73,000 deaths among nonsmokers each year in the U.S. and causes lower respiratory tract infections, like pneumonia and bronchitis, in as many as 300,000 children in the U.S. each year.

While the city is ahead of the curve when it comes to low smoking cigarettes rates, said Lisa Santora, chief medical officer for Beach Cities Health District, more than 11 percent of adults in the city still smoke. The lowest smoking cigarettes prevalence rate in L.A. County is 5.6 percent, she said.

Smoking is an issue close to a couple council members’ hearts. Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Powell, who urged the Council to put the ban on its Work Plan, lost his father at age 52 due to smoking cigarettes-related illness. He lost his mother, also a smoker who suffered from lung disease, to a stroke.

Councilwoman Amy Howorth said smoking cigarettes also led to the death of both of her parents — one to esophageal cancer and the other to emphysema.

Councilman David Lesser, while noting the importance of the ban’s implementation, questioned if the city would be able to enforce it.

“Quite frankly, the majority of folks recognize where they can and cannot smoke cigarettes and are very compliant,” said Police Chief Eve Irvine.

It will not be mandatory to immediately cite someone, Irvine said, especially if the person is from out of town or otherwise unaware of the ordinance.
The first ordinance violation comes with a $50 fine, doubling to $100 for the second violation. Additional violations within the same year would each be punishable by a fine of $250.

Robert Berger, project director of Project Trust, who helped lead the smoke-free beach movement in the city, said the social norm has changed.

“Smokers now have to accommodate nonsmokers. They realize more and more not to do it when they impact others. These policies are self-enforcing,” he said.

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Manhattan Beach Bans Smoking On The Strand

Manhattan Beach city council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve an ordinance to ban smoking cigarettes on The Strand and along Veterans Parkway/Greenbelt in Manhattan Beach. The ban will go into effect on October 10, said Christi Hogin, interim city attorney.

First time violators will be charged with a $50 fine, second-time violators, $100, according to the ordinance. Police will take into consideration those unaware of the ban or visiting the city from out of town, said Manhattan Beach Police Chief Eve Irvine.

“The Strand has become a designated smoking cigarettes area for people who know they can’t smoke cigarettes on the beach,” said Councilmember Wayne Powell, noting the dangers of secondhand smoke cigarettes and that The Strand is littered with cigarette butts.

Smoking or secondhand smoke cigarettes accounts for about 438,000 deaths each year in the United States, according to a 2008 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Powell fought to put this ordinance on the city work plan, and notes that it’s a personal matter for him – his father died of lung cancer at 52, and his mother suffered from lung disease and died of a stroke. Both his parents were smokers, he said.

Councilmember Amy Howorth also mentioned that both of her parents died of smoking cigarettes-related diseases. “I’m really proud to do this,” she said.

Craig Cadwallader, resident and member of the Surfrider Foundation, spoke in favor of the ban. “The Strand has become a de facto smoking cigarettes room,” he said, later adding, “Cigarette butts are toxic to ocean life.”

In 2004, the council banned smoking cigarettes on the beach, pier and in parks and recreation areas.

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City Of Sheboygan Matches State Law On 'smoking Room' Rules

Sheboygan aldermen voted Monday night to replace the city's restrictive, and confusing, ordinance on enclosed public smoking cigarettes areas with one that matches the state law, which allows smoking cigarettes in rooms with a roof and no more than two substantial walls.

The new ordinance replaces one that put the amount of wall space in a smoking cigarettes area at 75 percent of the confined surface area, and leaves the minimum open space area at 25 percent. It also stipulated that cigarettes smoke cigarettes not travel into areas commonly used by patrons, such as near restrooms.

The ordinance was reviewed June 9 by the city Law and Licensing Committee, which voted to recommend the city ordinance be replaced by state law.

"This is the first step to bringing us into compliance and having a parallel ordinance to the state," said Ald. Mark Hanna, who is chairman of the Law and Licensing Committee.

The Common Council passed the former ordinance on May 2, which grandfathered in all businesses that already had been approved for permits for areas they wanted to use as smoking cigarettes rooms.

There were 10 taverns with such smoking cigarettes areas but only two complied with the ordinance.

Some of them complained they spent large sums to build additions for smoking cigarettes rooms they believed would comply with state law but did not with the city ordinance. Smoking rooms are meant to be ventilated areas for patrons to light up on the bar premises.

Hanna said some of those eight would be brought into compliance with the new ordinance, but the majority still would not be and likely would have more work to do.

State law, which went into effect July 5, 2010, essentially bans indoor smoking cigarettes in all public places, including bars and restaurants. But the Legislature amended the law just before it took effect to allow for smoking cigarettes areas with a roof and no more than two substantial walls. The Tavern League of Wisconsin has requested through its attorneys that the city follow the state smoking cigarettes law.

The new ordinance calls for tavern owners to be responsible for making sure their smoking cigarettes rooms meet state guidelines.

In other action Monday night:

» Aldermen voted unanimously to approve a proposal from the Sheboygan Softball Association to award naming rights of the Wildwood Softball complex, 2213 New Jersey Ave., to Community Bank & Trust from 2011 through 2015 for $5,000 a year. Under the agreement, the park will be renamed Community Bank & Trust Softball Fields. The motion passed 14-0, with Ald. Don Hammond abstaining. Ald. Cory Roeseler was absent.

» The Common Council also voted Monday night to waive a right of first refusal to allow the Wisconsin Naval Ship Association to negotiate an agreement with Alliant Energy to purchase its former offices at 824 S. Eighth St., on the condition that WINSA closes on the building by July 15. WINSA is hoping to operate an onshore maritime museum, dubbed the Sheboygan Naval Museum and Education Center, and berth the USS Canon, a 165-foot Vietnam-era U.S. Navy gunboat, nearby on the Sheboygan River just west of the Eighth Street Bridge.

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Smokers May Soon Have Fewer Places To Light Up

The Greenville City Council approved a first reading on an ordinance that would tighten the ban on smoking cigarettes at restaurants in the city earlier this week.

According to Mayor Pro Tem David Sudduth, the new ordinance is an attempt to close some loopholes in the ban that was passed in 2006. The current ordinance bans smoking cigarettes inside restaurants and within 10 feet of a building’s entrance.

"The message is that you can come to the city of Greenville and enjoy dinner or you can enjoy drinks without having to smell secondhand cigarette smoke," Sudduth said.

Sudduth said the new smoking cigarettes ordinance would expand the current smoking cigarettes ban to include outdoor decks where food and drinks are served, private clubs and public playgrounds.

"It will basically apply to anywhere indoor or outdoor where food or beverage can be served," he said.

Sudduth said the ordinance will come up for a second reading at the City Council meeting on June 27.

Some smokers say the expanded ban is going too far.

Arron Sisk said, "The cars put off more pollutants than a cigarette does. You ban cheap cigarettes from outside, you might as well ban the cars from outside."

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Ithaca Expands Smoking Ban To Areas West Of Commons

The City of Ithaca Common Council voted unanimously Wednesday to expand the non-smoking cigarettes area on The Commons again, this time to include the streets west of The Commons.

The smoke-free area will extend along State Street to Geneva Street, and north and south along Cayuga Street between Seneca and Green streets.

The ban was first enacted in April 2010. The latest addition to the smoke-free area follows a previous extension of the original non-smoking cigarettes area, which encompassed the inner areas of The Commons. The first addition extended the non-smoking cigarettes area throughout The Commons and was enacted in October 2010.

Common Council member Jennifer Dotson, I-1st, introduced the resolution Wednesday, saying, "Since the amended ordinance went into effect, there has been an appreciable increase in the number of active smokers on the western end of The Commons."

Business owners along Cayuga Street have complained about smokers blocking their entrances or loitering in front of their buildings, council members said.

Council member Joel Zumoff, D-3rd, said he thinks another extension of the area is impractical, but that he would support the resolution.

"What will happen is the boundaries will get expanded and the people on the edges of the new boundary will complain," he said.

Eric Rosario, I-2nd, suggested establishing a designated smoking cigarettes area, rather than excluding smoking cigarettes, which seems to create clusters of smokers along the edges.

"I would offer that -- not as a part of this, but in spirit, a companion piece -- that we consider that as a solution to this," Rosario said.

He suggested a place near the Green Street parking garage at the end of Home Dairy Alley, saying it has become a popular smoking cigarettes spot already.

Another suggestion was to make the smoke-free zone effective for only part of the day. Dan Cogan, D-5th, argued against the suggestion because he thought it would raise the issue of people pushing the time limits by lighting up earlier and earlier, creating an enforcement problem.

Wednesday, the council also postponed a re-vote on a zoning ordinance contained in the 2009 Collegetown Plan.

The ordinance was one of four that were in question after a protest was filed by several property owners in Collegetown. Ordinances to which the protest applied would require 75 percent of the votes on the council to pass. The first ordinance, to establish form-based zoning districts, came up short, though the others passed.

The ordinance was scheduled to go before the council again Wednesday, but was removed from the agenda. A public hearing on the ordinance went forward, with some residents speaking in favor of form-based zoning and some speaking against the plan, which would allow development to move forward in the area.

The council also approved a resolution requesting that Gov. Andrew Cuomo rescind the Secure Communities agreement, and authorized a license to use city parkland for the Congo Square Market.

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Spartanburg City Council Approves Smoking Ordinance

Several downtown restaurant owners vowed to continue to fight the newly adopted smoking cigarettes ban after Spartanburg City Council overwhelmingly approved the ordinance Monday.

Kevin Moore, proprietor of Delaney's Irish Pub, said he will continue to talk to council members up to the day the ordinance becomes effective on Sept. 1.

The ordinance restricts smoking cigarettes in downtown bars and restaurants, and smokers must be at least 15 feet from an establishment's entrance and exit and ventilation system so the smoke cigarettes doesn't infiltrate the business. A restaurant owner can have a designated smoking cigarettes area, but it must meet the distance requirements. The smoking cigarettes area can't be used for dining.

The ordinance doesn't restrict smoking cigarettes on city sidewalks.

Councilwoman Linda Dogan was the lone council member to vote against the ordinance. Councilman Robert Reeder voted against the ordinance on first reading at the last council meeting, but voted in favor of it on Monday.

Reeder said he needed clarification on several points. He said he's disappointed there won't be designated smoking cigarettes areas at city-sponsored events such as Spring Fling, Music on Main and International Festival, but was pleased that smoking cigarettes wouldn't be restricted if groups rented city-owned facilities.

"I was willing to come to a compromise; that's what politics is all about and this issue is no different," Reeder said.

Moore, who said he also was speaking on behalf of other downtown business owners, said he's concerned about the distance requirement for a smoking cigarettes area. Delaney's is one of a few downtown restaurants that allows smoking cigarettes.

"I don't have outdoor seating and even if I did, it wouldn't meet the 15 feet requirements," Moore said. "I have the biggest smoking cigarettes bar in Spartanburg and to be honest, I'm concerned about how this will effect not only my business, but a lot of businesses downtown."

Bob Turner, 63, said he's a former smoker who's lived in Spartanburg his entire life. He said a smoking cigarettes ban will not likely hurt downtown businesses since areas that have enacted similar bans have reported business actually has increased.

"I think it's about time Spartanburg did what other forward-thinking communities are doing," Turner said. "It's about breathing clean air — we all have a right to that."

Wild Wings general manager Ramsey Roe said his restaurant allows smoking cigarettes upstairs and on a patio, and said he tries to please all of his patrons.

"I'm disappointed (with the ordinance)," Roe said. "I'd like there to be an option for both parties to try to work this out because as it stands now, this severely limits how we can operate."

Moore said the impact on his business was unclear.

"Hopefully, we can sit down with the city to try to work this out because we want people to come downtown — not just to this restaurant; downtown, period," Roe said. "I just don't think this is a way to get people down here."

Individuals and business owners who violate the ordinance are subject to a fine between $10 and $25.

In other business, council unanimously approved appropriating almost $1 million in one-time expenditures. The city has a balance of $472,974 remaining from the sale of the sewer system to Spartanburg Water, and Assistant City Manager Chris Story said staff is confident after the last bond sale for the Arkwright Landfill closure funds will be sufficient. Staff estimates about $506,154 remaining in that fund.

Council voted to use those proceeds — about $979,128 — for the following: $350,000 toward the settlement of the Marriott at Renaissance Park lawsuit; $215,000 to close-out several completed capital projects; $250,000 toward the long-term Northside initiative; $50,000 for website improvements to improve web-based citizen communication; $28,670 for a grant match to connect the Mary Black Rail Trail to the Union Street Skate Park; $67,000 to update the interface for enterprise system software; and $18,458 for a grant match for Downtown Memorial Airport site work.

Council also unanimously approved two property donations to the city. The owners of 222 Ernest L. Collings Ave. and 492 Greenlea St. offered the parcels to the city. The city will incur demolition costs on both sites and pay the 2010 taxes on the properties ($969.43 for both properties).

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County Campaigns Against Secondhand Smoke

An estimated 4,000 people each year in California die from secondhand smoke, according to Santa Clara County Department of Public Health officials, who kicked off an ad campaign Tuesday to warn people about the dangers of secondhand smoke.

The campaign was announced at a news conference April 26 with county Supervisor Ken Yeager and Campbell Mayor Jason Baker, who said that as a father of two kids, he is especially concerned about the impact of secondhand smoke.

"Smoking stops being a personal choice when you expose others to secondhand smoke," Baker said.

According to Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, health officer for the county, in California an estimated 3,600 non-smokers who reside with smokers die from heart disease each year, and roughly 400 die from lung cancer.

The campaign is part of a wider two-year county initiative to bring together a coalition of schools, health care facilities and community organizations to prevent young people from smoking cigarettes, help smokers quit and reduce exposure to secondhand smoke.

Funding for the project was provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Santa Clara County was one of only three counties in the state to receive the "Communities Putting Prevention to Work" grant.

The campaign features a TV ad in English, Spanish and Vietnamese that shows how secondhand smoke cigarettes affects young children.

The commercial will air beginning this month through July on the Comcast cable network in Santa Clara County, the Spanish-language broadcast networks Univision and Telemundo, and several Vietnamese outlets. Full-page print ads will be featured in newspapers and outreach materials.

Yeager is part of a 16-member team that leads the county initiative, and he also serves as vice chair of the Board of Supervisors' Health and Hospital Committee.

Last year, Yeager and the board, approved ordinances that set restrictions on smoking cigarettes in workplaces, parks and multi-unit housing in unincorporated areas of the county.

One of the ordinances passed requires retailers that sell cigarettes in unincorporated areas to obtain and maintain an annual permit, limits the number of retail stores near schools, and bans the sale of flavored tobacco products.

Under the ordinance, new retail outlets will be prohibited from selling tobacco if they operate a pharmacy or are located within 1,000 feet of a school or within 500 feet of another tobacco retailer.

Many opponents of the ordinance have said the regulations are punitive and discriminatory toward small businesses.

The board also passed an ordinance that bans smoking cigarettes at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, outdoor shopping malls, all county parks, in hotels and motels, at retail stores that exclusively sell tobacco and smoking cigarettes products, and within 30 feet of any outdoor service area, such as a ticket line.

The third ordinance passed bans smoking cigarettes in duplexes, condo and townhouse complexes, and apartment buildings. The ordinance does permit setting up designated smoking cigarettes areas at least 30 feet away from doors and windows.

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Sheboygan Council Clarifies 'smoking' Rooms

The City of Sheboygan is easing its restrictions on enclosed public smoking cigarettes areas at businesses such as bars and restaurants, though an official said the city ordinance still would be in compliance with the statewide smoking cigarettes ban.

The Common Council Monday night approved increasing the amount of wall space in a smoking cigarettes area from 50 to 75 percent of the confined surface area, which places the minimum open space area at 25 percent. Businesses that already have been approved for permits are grandfathered in.

“Anecdotally, we’re getting complaints from certain bar owners that certain other bars aren’t in compliance with their (smoking cigarettes) rooms,” said Chuck Adams, assistant city attorney.

Adams said the city is finding that since the smoking cigarettes ban became law last July, noise complaints and disturbances outside bars have increased, “because people are basically being pushed outdoors to smoke.”

Police officials, in turn, were concerned that they didn’t want the restrictions on smoking cigarettes areas so tight that no tavern owner would want to construct one, Adams said.

“Ideally, you’d like to have these people congregating in a place that has some semblance of control,” Adams said.

The council’s Law & Licensing Committee backed the ordinance change.

“By having people smoke cigarettes on the street was causing problems, it’s better for the safety of the citizens to have smoking cigarettes rooms,” Ald. Mark Hanna said.

Adams said the changes also make the city ordinance clear that smoking cigarettes areas need to be separate from the primary serving area of an establishment.

“We were hearing complaints that there were some smoking cigarettes areas inside bars that everybody had to walk through, and obviously that was not provided for in the statutes,” Adams said.

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