Our View: A burning issue - Gate House

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February 02. 2016 12:01AM Our View: A burning issue It was only a matter of time before society's decreasing tolerance for cigarette smoking extended outdoors. The City Council tonight will take up a proposed ban on tobacco smoking anywhere downtown. Our immediate reaction is to applaud — tobacco smoke is an annoyance at best and a health hazard at worst to those who do not smoke — but some leeway needs to be maintained for businesses that may be affected. Indoor smoking is already banned. Bars and restaurants resisted that move, but everyone seems to have adjusted. Smoking is also against the law in city parks. And newly legal recreational marijuana cannot be smoked in public. The proposed ban would apply from Hargadine north to Lithia Way and from Gresham and Third streets on the east to Church Street on the west — the same area where the persistent violator ordinance is enforced. While it's a fine idea to keep the air free of tobacco fumes where pedestrian traffic is heaviest, the council should make sure to retain proposed exceptions for bars and restaurants. A bar patron who cannot step outside for a smoke during an evening out might well decide not to patronize downtown establishments in favor of those outside the smoking ban perimeter. The ordinance as proposed allows bars and restaurants to apply for exceptions, which seems only fair. It might be advisable for downtown merchants to work together to identify spots that could serve as outdoor smoking areas for those businesses applying for exceptions. http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20160202/OPINION/160209982 © 2016 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->