http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-plsmoke_10met.ART.State.Edition1.444d4df.html
Law restricts Plano's smokers
Council OKs ban in most public places, including eateries
12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, April 10, 2007
By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
bformby@dallasnews.com
The Plano City Council unanimously approved a smoke-free ordinance Monday night similar to indoor smoking bans adopted by Dallas, El Paso and other Texas cities.
"I consider it our duty to take this action and support this ordinance," Mayor Pat Evans said after residents, health professionals and business owners spoke on the matter for more than 45 minutes.
The ordinance takes effect June 1 and bans smoking in virtually all public places, including restaurants.
It restricts hotels and motels from allowing smoking in more than 10 percent of its rooms. The ordinance will also outlaw smoking within 25 feet of a door, window or vent of a public building or private business.
The law will not affect homes or automobiles.
A majority of the people who addressed the council Monday night – 14 out of 19 – spoke against all or portions of the ordinance. Many restaurant owners said they would lose customers to nearby competitors in Richardson and Allen.
"This is going to run our business into the ground," said Mike Sherman, who works at Varsity Club on Coit Road.
Several restaurant owners and employees asked the council to table the vote until proposed statewide bans work their way through the Texas Legislature.
Bills at the state level received a surprise endorsement in February from the Texas Restaurant Association. That group said a uniform ban would clear confusion on which cities have which laws.
Many of the restaurant owners at Monday's meeting in Plano said they wouldn't oppose a statewide ban because that would level their businesses' competitive playing fields.
Others unsuccessfully pleaded with the council to rethink the 25-foot rule. Tim Kelly, who operates Kelly's Eastside restaurant, said that provision will prevent people from smoking on his establishment's patio, which makes up about 60 percent of his revenue.
"You basically have to be in the middle of Avenue K to smoke," he said.
Some residents said the ordinance was a matter of public health, not private business rights. Sara Cruz said she's allergic to secondhand smoke, which causes a problem if she wants to watch karaoke or play pool because those activities are usually in smoking areas of restaurants.
"I'm going to come out of there with my chest hurting," she told council members.
An advisory committee drew up the new ordinance after the U.S. surgeon general released research last summer that underscored the health risks of secondhand smoke. That research also showed that ventilation systems cannot eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke.
The council's approval replaced the city's old ordinance, which was drafted in the mid-1990s and allowed indoor smoking in separate areas equipped with a city-inspected ventilation system.
Deborah Terrell, an accountant who served on the advisory committee, said restaurant owners may still be able to write off their ventilation systems and should check their tax options with their accountants.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Sally Magnuson said she received a "tremendous" number of e-mails about the ordinance. She considered it a public health matter but understood why some considered it to be about property rights.
"I've really had to wrestle with this because of that," she said.
