City Council Minutes 1986 09 16 - Laserfiche WebLink

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COUNCIL ACTION - INITIATIVE PETITION - PROPOSED "NO SMOKING" ORDINANCE Mayor Fauson reminded Council and the audience that this is not a public hearing. However, several people signed to speak on this subject. Mayor Fauson recommended to Council that they consider putting this proposed ordinance out for a public hearing to allow for input before making a decision. Tom Morris signed a speaker card and Mayor Fauson asked him to make his presentation. Mr. Morris, 939 W. Maple Court, stated that he is a sponsor of this petition to restrict smoking in indoor public places in Louisville. Several docu- ments were presented by Morris supporting the petition's intent to protect the health of the people of Louisville. Seventeen cities in Colorado have enacted similar ordinances and Morris strongly urges this Council to join the "growing number of municipalities in recognizing the health hazards of second-hand smoking." Morris defined each section of the proposed ordinance and stated that the proponents of this ordinance are not asking businesses to spend any more money to implement this ordinance. Instead, they are asking that existing physical barriers and ventilation systems be used to minimize the toxic affects of the smoke from adjacent smoking areas. Signs identifying each area would be required and the sole obligation of the proprietor would be to ask a smoker who is violating the intent of the ordinance to simply refrain from smoking. At that point his obligation ends. Similar ordinances in area cities are working well, according to Morris. Dan Diaz, 415 Lois Drive, a member of the Boulder County Health Department, presented Council with a document stating the affects of "passive smoking". "While the Board of Health does not actively take stands on issues that will require votes by a city such as this one, it did prompt the Board of Health to draft this resolution which supports educational efforts to restaurants in the County to establish no smoking sections and to minimize the affects of smoking on non-smokers," Diaz stated. Diaz urged Council to vote in favor of adopting this proposed ordinance. Wayne Dozier, 1816 Joliet Lane, Boulder, stated that he did not come to meddle in the politics of Louisville but to share his experiences as a restaurant owner in both Ft. Collins and Boulder. This ordinance is very easy for a restaurant owner 8