Hey some good news for a change. Chalk up a win for the cigarette smokers of Rancho Cucamonga, California. The anti-cigarette smoking Nazis lose this one. I don’t smoke, and although I do not like smoking in restaurants, I feel that if people want to sit on a patio and smoke, they should be allowed to do so without people pissing and moaning about it. Ed.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Smokers in this city can continue their habit in restaurant patios and they have a shaky economy to thank.
The City Council decided on Wednesday not to enforce a smoking ban in outdoor dining areas citing concerns of negative impacts on local restaurants.
Council members Sam Spagnolo, Dennis Michael and Diane Williams were concerned such restrictions would be too stringent on businesses that rely on sales generated from outdoor patios.
Williams said the government should not be the one to decide whether restaurant-goers can smoke in outdoor patios.
“I think every restaurant should have a choice, especially in these economic times,” Williams said.
But Mayor Don Kurth, who is a physician and is vocal about the harms of second-hand smoke, disagreed. He considered smoking in al fresco dining areas to be a public safety issue.
“We should have the courage to advance this argument and make this city a safer place,” Kurth said. “Smokers have a right to smoke but they don’t have the right to expose others to lethal health risks.
“I think it’s important to protect the people who may not have a say so – like children.”
Councilman Rex Gutierrez did not attend the special meeting.
Without majority support, restaurant owners can make their own decisions on outdoor smoking. But Williams and Kurth were interested in exploring the idea of prohibiting smoking in entryways of businesses and
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directed city staff members to gather information on a possible ordinance.
The discussion on Wednesday was a follow-up to a special meeting this past October when the City Council decided against enacting smoking restrictions in apartments, hotels and shopping centers but favored restrictions for outdoor service lines and transit stops.
On Wednesday, the council tentatively approved a draft ordinance that would prohibit smoking within 20 feet of transit stops and service lines such as near ATMs and movie theaters. The draft ordinance is an amendment to the current ordinance, which bans smoking on city-owned properties.
The council also asked city staff members to begin a smoke-free recognition program that would encourage businesses to go smoke-free by mentioning them in city publications.
When the council last considered the matter last October, it directed city staff members to gather input from local restaurant owners about possible restrictions.
According to interviews conducted with 16 randomly selected restaurants that have outdoor dining areas, views of an outdoor smoking ban were mixed. Half of those interviewed supported such a policy and the other half either did not support it or had no opinion.
Michael said if he was a business owner, he would want to make his own decisions about outdoor smoking.
“I’m not in favor of banning smoking in outdoor dining areas … I don’t know if I’m ready to go to that level,” Michael said. “It’s unhealthful and dangerous but so are a whole lot of other things.”
The decision provided relief to people like Juan De La O, who manages the Mexican restaurant Don Marcos. De La O said 15 percent of sales at the Foothill Boulevard eatery is generated from the newly refurbished patio. If a smoking ban went into effect, De La O said business would “collapse.”
During Wednesday’s meeting, five speakers, including residents and health care professionals, encouraged the council to implement a stricter ban.
Three speakers, including a representative of Buffalo Wild Wings, spoke against tighter restrictions.
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