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Should Carlsbad Ban Smoking in Outdoor Dining Areas?

The Carlsbad City Council will consider prohibiting smoking in establishments that offer outdoor dining at its meeting Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

Background

The State of California enacted the State Workplace Smoking Law in 1988, which bans smoking in enclosed places of employment, including restaurants. The City of Carlsbad has the authority to extend that prohibition to public outdoor spaces where food is served, such as street and sidewalk cafés, to protect members of the public from health hazards caused by second-hand smoke.

Want more information?

The draft ordinance can be accessed at carlsbadca.gov/planning. A report about this proposed change will also be available on the city website and at the City Clerk’s office after Friday, Sept. 21, when the agenda for the following week’s City Council meeting is posted for the public.

How to provide input

To provide input into this decision, interested members of the public are encouraged to review the draft ordinance and contact the city with comments and questions. The public is also encouraged to attend the City Council meeting and speak during the public comment period. Comments, questions and requests for additional information can be directed to Michele Masterson at 760-602-4615 or via email at michele.masterson@carlsbadca.gov.

–City of Carlsbad

Are you for or against smoke free outdoor dining? Tell us in comments.

Skip Stein September 21, 2012 at 10:37 am
YES, ban smoking in any public place inside and/or outside.
Gordon Cress September 21, 2012 at 11:20 am
Agree completely. Everyone is entitled to breathe freely without the air being contaminated with cigarette/cigar smoke. Few things as objectionable as trying to enjoy an evening cocktail or dinner and having to breathe smoke, not to mention the secondhand smoke danger.
Jimmy Almond September 21, 2012 at 11:21 am
Of course they should ban in and out. Smokers need to get over their habits and go kill themselves without the offensive odor they emit,
Pattie Caraglio September 21, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Absolutely FOR the new ordinance! It’s about time Carlsbad joined the list of other 70 + conscience California cities and other states who are protecting their citizens and visitors against this toxic activity. It has been four years since Carlsbad passed an ordinance for no smoking in public parks, beaches and recreational areas. It is time to pass this one too!
PLEASE send an email favoring the ban for smoke free outdoor dining to Leticia Trevino at leticia.trevino@carlsbadca.gov and ask her to forward your message to our city council members before the Sept. 25th City Council Meeting. Thank you.
Tammi Harper September 21, 2012 at 01:06 pm
Please please please ban smoking!
john P. September 21, 2012 at 02:45 pm
if your going to have a law that bans smoking on beaches, parks, and recreational areas, outdoor venues must also be banned. specially if patrons sit reasonably close to other patrons or passer bys, and run the risk of contamination from second hand smoking. you can`t ban smoking on places like beaches where people lay or play close to one another and not on street venues where people are also close to one another and say one is safe to smoke and one isnt. either they all are ok or not.
W. Mike Marshall September 21, 2012 at 02:49 pm
Better yet, can't we just ban ALL smokers from Carlsbad??!!
Leah Oviedo September 21, 2012 at 07:31 pm
I would like that ban. People can smoke at home. I dislike walking around town and breathing in cigarette smoke. It's hard to breathe.
Tapple September 21, 2012 at 08:57 pm
I don't smoke. I have no objection to smoking sections in outside venues. I have never been denied a request to move if smoke was bothersome. While second hand smoke has been proven to be unhealthy, you would have to be sequestered in a closed environment to suffer long term damage. I don't understand why anyone smokes today, what with all the information we have but i respect their right to do so.
At which point do we say, we have enough laws on the books, maybe just one more?
Debbie G September 22, 2012 at 08:48 pm
Smoking should be allowed only in one's own private home and/or yard!...I am all for the BAN on smoking in a restaurant's "Al FRESCO" dining area....FRESH air it will be!
glenn bernard September 23, 2012 at 02:53 pm
In '94, Council-Member Kulchin was speaking at a mobile home community concerning the proposed Rent Control Ordinance. She said that the ordinance was written with flexibility, so that if a community wanted enforcement, they would get backing from the city. Otherwise, the ordinance would be ignored. Therefore, the same sort of flexibility ought to be written into this cigarette ordinance, so that all of the restaurant owners could make the decisions for themselves. City governments throughout the USA have over-paid bureaucrats who concoct make-work projects just to feel important and perpetuate their unneeded jobs.
SavEcig September 23, 2012 at 10:21 pm
I was against smoking bans when I was a smoker. But since I switched to electronic cigarettes two years, I don't have to worry about smoking bans, tar, smell or really high cigarette taxes! http://www.savecig.com
Greg Tolan September 23, 2012 at 10:29 pm
or maybe just the people with stupid comments!!
Frank September 26, 2012 at 11:30 am
This should be at the discretion of the restaurant owners. People can exercise their rights as consumers to frequent the establishment or not.
Thomas April 17, 2013 at 12:05 am
I recently visited an alfresco restaurant that is promoting a green business environment. The owners didn’t really ban smoking but designated an area for patrons who smoke. They have ventilated the area in a way that the smoke is blown away from the non-smoking patrons.

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