Board Seeks Comment on Smoking Rules

The Board of Supervisors on Wednesday agreed to seek public comment on a tough new proposal to regulate smoking in restaurants, public buildings and in places of employment throughout unincorporated areas of Orange County.

Board members voted 4 to 1 to circulate the proposed ordinance, a much stricter regulatory package than a proposal adopted by a county-appointed task force that would have made smoking regulation voluntary for private employers.

The board scheduled a public hearing May 21 for discussion and final action on the smoking ordinance, which could become the second of its kind in Orange County. Laguna Beach adopted a similar measure last week.

Rules for Restaurants

In the meantime, county officials will seek opinions from business groups, community advisory organizations, health advocacy groups and tobacco industry spokesmen to help shape the final ordinance.

As proposed by Supervisor Bruce Nestande, the ordinance would ban smoking in buildings owned and operated by the county and in other public gathering places, except in designated areas. It would require large restaurants to set aside half their floor space for non-smokers and require all employers to adopt no-smoking policies.

Specifically, those policies at a minimum would have to prohibit smoking in conference rooms, classrooms, auditoriums, restrooms, medical facilities, hallways and elevators. No-smoking areas would have to cover at least half of all cafeterias, lunchrooms and employee lounges. Finally, individual employees would have the right to declare their own workplaces non-smoking areas.

Violations would be considered an infraction, subject to a maximum $100 fine.

Bars Would Be Exempt

The ordinance recommended by the county staff would urge employers to adopt such restrictions but would not make them mandatory. It would require restaurants to reserve only 35% of their space for non-smokers (the current requirement is 20%). Bars would be exempt under both ordinances, as long as they seated fewer than 50 patrons.

But Nestande--apparently backed by several other board members--said stronger regulation is needed.

“It is my contention that we ought to face the issue,� he said in a memo to other supervisors. “If one is to conclude that smoking is a health hazard, it doesn’t make sense to allow voluntary compliance,� he said.

Supervisor Ralph Clark said samplings from a recent survey of his central Orange County constituents showed that 72% favored smoking regulation in private workplaces.

The survey, he said, provided “a clear indication that the public wants more, a lot more, in the way of freedom from the polluting effects and health dangers of smoking. . . . I believe the public mood today favors strengthening the ordinance and carrying it beyond the public workplace and public buildings.�

Wieder Casts No Vote

County officials may want to consider exempting small employers, however, who may have difficulty complying, Clark said. And Supervisor Roger Stanton said workplaces should be further classified. While the board would likely want to prohibit smoking in hospitals, for instance, it might be less desirable to ban it in someplace like a welding shop, Stanton said.

Supervisor Harriett Wieder was the only one to vote against the stronger ordinance, even though she said after the meeting she will “undoubtedly vote for mandatory� regulation of smoking in private workplaces.

Wieder said she felt the task force’s proposed ordinance should be used as a basis for further study, even if the board eventually decides to strengthen it, because of the effort and public input that went into developing it.

“My problem is that in the democratic process we’re taking a heavy-handed approach,� Wieder said. “It’s like putting a gun at everybody’s back. We did assign a task force, and a great deal of time and effort went into the task force bringing in the recommendation. I think it was presumptuous on our part.�

But Nestande responded that he does not “believe for a moment that we’re shooting from the hip,� noting that a number of cities, including Los Angeles, have adopted no-smoking ordinances already. “We’re dragging our feet in Orange County,� he said.