Tobacco Documents Online

u;fc5 r Q-;t V_ g"T"& 2 5ECTta . Wc. 4'7,1 lCG'-12 RY ~' O T~ t~ L Ji C- L~.1 tS i tz, ` . ' Hy L: NA :'lII:LiF t;'S WHITE PLAINS HE smokin~, ordinance for- [' t=warded toAldk.ay last week by ! tha county's Ecardi of' iiealL't i_- .i1 differs siZni;icuntly frora the or;^;incl draft, eaiich would have pro- hibited s:noL-in; in restaurants; thea, ters, hospitals and offices except ini desi,-natedareas; Under i: t.:nse lobbying from the to- bacco i:Idustry and: t,ie state's R estau= rant Asscci4tic:i„wiiicii ar;;uad the ban would' be un enforecable and would re- sult in economic diza t,:r, the board re- vised the antismosir.; ccde at least three times. In its present form, the re- strictior.s would be voluntary in most public places. The first draft„approved in April, re- quired restaurants that seatcd,lGO orr more people to have desi[;naied s:.aok- ing areas. It was initialiy revis: d to ap!sly to suc : restaurants only U1 tiieyy had two or :ncre diiun; rooms, and t,e draft approved last month, revised a3,ain„aiio:-,r., all eating places to set up no-smol:in; arcas on a voluatary basis, at the discrctianof'tlie proprietor. A section r;;qu: stinl; owners who did not choose to havenonsmoking,areas tio provide adequate vcntilation was lr:tor deleted, apparently because the board felt such a measure would have ira- posed,an added expense on restaura+- teurs. "I'm not at all pleased'witn this new draft, especially th3 part concerninp,, restaurants,'" said' Annette Laluelle, a r.onsrnciter w1mchalL:ngcd' the 13- member bo~rd's ri,^,lit to revise the a-- dinance Crit:AUt tiia require;i, 7-me,17- ber quorurm. "The l:oard'did not hava a maj'orit;rwliea it made. G:7ose revisic:is, and thcrefore their actions were iile- gal. "Vei7j'fcw; cople l:novr what is r,oir.; on, bc-cause tlie mectings, which arc open to th4 public, are not publiei::cd. I'm sure a, lbt oi' psapie wil'i be dinap:- pointed wiih tlils ordinance, esneci~ lly thepart that applies to restaurants." At the same time, Mrs. LaPCl12 and other nor.smo::2rs said they wcre pleased that the county: had'4eei(;ed `.o~ address t:;e issue. T;ie ordinance vi;,s "better than nothing," Mrs. Lah:;lle said. How.ever, Harold V'o,^,t, president oi the 1y;iite Plains Chamber of Com- rncrce,expressed displeasure with the ordi;.ance, saying, it was a"'neediess regulhtion." Mr. Vagt said he had not seenia copy of the ordinance that Nz-as mailed to the le;al counsel in, Albany to see if its wording complied wit;iit'ne state's Sani- tary Cede; but he accusedl the cowltyr board: of re ;ulatin,; a nuisance: "Ilost restaurants and public places have al- ready establisiied no<smo::ino, sec- tions." Rita Arnhei:..t, prcsident of the New York State Restaurwnt Association's Westchcster chapter, saiii last weuk that nicst restaurate.urs had received few requests for sections and that racny were vclunta rily install- in~- veatilati: 7, systc..s. \riany retGi.ers had suggested in statements made to the board thut the imposition of a stricter antiS:noltingg ccde mi.,iit force tiiara to leave the county and raiZ,it reduce t;ye county's ability to attract new business invest- mentand :obs. Althougii an antismoain;.code sims- l'arto the o-ne originally propased'bytiie board here was enacted in Rockland Countywith no apparen t e:fect on pri- vate industry,, business lcaders de- mand'ed t;;at Westchester's code be re- written alon; more lenient lines. As a resuit,a portion~of'the ordinaneerequirin;; dcsi.rnated smo::in;,areas in places o,' work with 10 or more persons in one o;'iice was rewritten to cover only thooe that "the public must enter to receive services." Then it was re- written v --ain to exclude private, en-, closed ofiices occupied eacli:sively by smokers, even tttough such offices may, be visited by nonsmoke.s. The board said'the revisions were an attempt to establish a cec:z tlilt would' bereali.aticirom a nredic:rl viewpoint without Lein;,,irnpractica,':ar 'Oasincss. The rs::inance da€n rcr,t icC ::nal;i7g in public places to c', ;,; atcu' areas and allo.-is proPrictca w: cai:iors in chargG to s:;l ui> Snro'.:ir.~ •.. „as, e~:ecpt where mn :in ; is p o u.;iu..c by ttie fire mars;iall nil by 1aw. sir,o!tin." areas are cics.igiiatca„ a :,L.iy saying. "Smol;in.- Permitted" syculdl be postr ed. Represenic,tives from the Tobacco Instituze and the Restaurant Associa- tion said re:e3rch had.shown that there was no hcr.;tii hazard prese-ntied'to non-, smokers exposed to cigarette smolze mirier normal circumstances. They said a stricter antismoking law could. :7avc resulted' in 1'ost tax revenues of'up to 425 miiliona year. [31