Jun 28

(BCN) SANTA ROSA The Santa Rosa City Council Tuesday night voted 5-1 to ban outdoor smoking on all city-owned land, including privately owned outdoor bars and restaurants.

The ordinance will take effect Dec. 1 and Councilman Lee Pierce, who proposed the ban, said that will allow time to make amendments to the ordinance that revises the city's code.

Opponents said there was no public discourse on the issue or feedback from restaurants and bars. The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce took no position on the proposed outdoor smoking ban.

Councilman Mike Martini voted against the ordinance. He said it allows an area for smoking at the city's outdoor transit mall but makes no such provision for private businesses and restaurants.

Outdoor smoking should be banned in city-owned areas where people have no choice to be, such as the transit mall, but not in areas where people have a choice, such as whether or not to sit outdoors at a restaurant, Martini said.

Martini said some restaurant owners said they had already spent money creating an outdoor smoking area at their establishments because smoking is banned indoors.

Martini said the anticipated amendments should have been determined and discussed before the council voted on the ordinance.

"Let's get it right the first time," Martini said.

Pierce said today the concerns of restaurant owners could be the subject of dialog about amendments before Dec. 1 and that they may or may not be adopted. He said the outdoor smoking ban became an issue for him when a city bus driver complained several months ago about smoke entering the bus when it stopped at the transit mall.

Healdsburg bans smoking at outdoor dining establishments and Windsor bans smoking at its Town Green. Santa Rosa Junior College will enact a campus-wide ban on outdoor smoking, city officials said.

The ordinance bans smoking at city-owned and operated parks, playgrounds, sporting facilities, dining areas, in Old Courthouse Square and at transit malls.

A first violation carries a $100 fine, a second violation within a year carries a $250 fine and there is a $500 fine for each additional violation within a year. The ordinance allows private citizens to bring legal action against offenders.

Santa Rosa City Council Bans Outdoor Smoking