"It's like seat belts. It's like DDT. It's like wearing bicycle helmets or not smoking on airplanes," Lewis said.
Suburb bans most public smoking
October 11, 2006
By Dave Wischnowsky, Tribune staff reporter
Northbrook is the latest north suburban community to go smoke-free.
The Village Board voted unanimously Tuesday night for an ordinance that bans smoking in almost all public places.
"It's very comprehensive," Village President Gene Marks said of the ban, which will go into effect Jan. 1. "We're going to enjoy our clean air."
Under the ordinance, smoking will be prohibited in all restaurants, bars and workplaces, as well as at most outdoor locations, including school property.
Smoking also will be banned at Park District sites, except for the main golf course at Sportsman's Country Club, where smokers must remain at least 75 feet from the clubhouse, Marks said.
Exempt from the ban are businesses dedicated strictly to tobacco sales and up to 10 percent of a hotel's total rooms. The nursing-home rooms of smokers also can be exempt if the room's occupants agree to sign a waiver, Marks said.
Buffalo Grove, Deerfield, Evanston, Highland Park, Libertyville, Lincolnshire, Skokie, Vernon Hills and Wilmette all have similar ordinances, as does Lake Forest, although its restaurants and bars are exempt until May 1.
On Nov. 16, Lindenhurst will bar smoking in public places.
In May, the Lake County Board passed a resolution supporting a Health Department proposal to make the entire county smoke-free by the end of next year.
Smoking ban vote set Oct. 10
Sept. 21, 2006
KEN GOZE
Northbrook trustees this week said they plan to pass an ordinance that would ban smoking in almost all public indoor spaces as soon as Nov. 16, citing overwhelming support for the measure and growing proof of the dangers of secondhand smoke.
Following a public hearing Monday, the board directed attorneys to draft an ordinance for consideration at 8 p.m. Oct. 10 at Village Hall, 1225 Cedar Lane.
The proposed measure would prohibit smoking in all restaurants and work places and in certain outdoor spaces, including Village Green Park and Sportsman's Country Club's miniature golf course.
Exempted from the smoking ban would be businesses dedicated to tobacco sales, the nursing home rooms of smokers and up to 10 percent of a hotel's total rooms, which could be designated for smoking.
Trustees said virtually all of the resident feedback they have received since opening the discussion in May has been in favor of such a ban. A March 15 Cook County smoking ban brought the issue to the forefront, though Northbrook's existing laws pre-empted that and gave the village wide latitude to pass a weaker or stronger local law.
Northbrook currently bars smoking in public meeting spaces and mandates non-smoking sections in restaurants.
"There's no question smoking is bad for you. I also think there's no question secondhand smoke is bad for you," Trustee Todd Heller said. "The other side is I do have some feelings on individual freedoms. A lot of people choose to do a lot of bad things and we don't necessarily ban them. The question I think comes down to when your personal freedom infringes upon others."
Trustee James Karagianis said the issue for him boiled down to the safety of workers in smoky environments. Industries have had to adjust to mandates of all kinds geared toward workplace safety, he said.
"For the employer, it is an absolute must to protect the employee. It's not just the patron in the restaurant, it's the employee. That is the thing that put me over the top on this," Karagianis said.
Trustees A.C. Buehler and Michael Scolaro said the issue was simply public health. The proposed Nov. 16 effective date was proposed by Buehler to coincide with the Great American Smokeout campaign held each year by the American Cancer Society.
Trustee Julius Kole said he had hoped to find some way of accommodating both health concerns and smokers, but all of his correspondence from residents sought a comprehensive ban.
Public opposition to a smoking ban has been low key in recent months. The Northbrook Chamber of Commerce said the choice should be left to business owners but did not muster a unified statement for or against a ban. Restaurant owners, who used to spearhead fights against strict smoking laws, have largely stayed out of the fray this year. Many have already made their eateries smoke free or sense that bans are inevitable.
Landmark Inn owner John Minigas said his business will likely suffer under a local smoking ban. Many of his evening patrons are smokers.
"It would hurt. I understand people don't like smoking. It's bad for you among other things that are bad for you, but business will get hurt unless it goes for the whole state," Minigas said.
State Sen. Susan Garrett, D-29th, in a brief appearance at the meeting, said a statewide measure could be considered early next year, but acknowledged the legislature has been reluctant to intrude in local decision making. Support for strict smoking laws varies among Chicago, the suburbs and downstate areas, she said.
Cigar wholesaler Mike Gold said much of the science on secondhand smoke, which has fueled the drive for smoking bans, doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Gold said most of the studies included in recent government reports were inconclusive on whether secondhand smoke significantly increased the risk of heart disease or cancer. Even studies that pooled the data found only moderate elevations, he said.
"The object appears to be if you put 10 leaky buckets together they just might hold the water," Gold said.
Anti-smoking activists, who led the push for a ban as Citizens For a Smoke-Free Northbrook, countered the dangers of secondhand smoke are well established and that no proven filtration system has been found to eliminate the cancer-causing chemicals in smoke from indoor spaces. They said local measures are a key to winning a statewide ban similar to those in California and New York.
"Basically it's a wonderful ordinance and we're very proud of the village," Sandy Lewis, one of the campaign organizers, said Tuesday.
Trustees said they may fine tune some parts of the proposed ordinance before taking a final vote. Many cities with existing indoor smoking bans also keep smokers 25 feet from building entrances, but several trustees questioned whether that's realistic on downtown sidewalks and suggested 15 feet. Some said they would like to delay the effective date to give businesses time to adjust, but wouldn't block the measure on that point.
Read
Ban talk mainly smoke, no fire
Chamber has no position on stricter limits
Since Northbrook trustees first considered banning smoking in public places, the idea has energized anti-smoking activists and drawn only lukewarm opposition from restaurant operators.
The Village Board plans to again debate the issue at 8 p.m. Monday at Village Hall, 1225 Cedar Lane. No vote will be taken during the committee-of-the-whole meeting, at which trustees engage only in informal discussion.
Trustees decided to revisit local smoking restrictions in May after the Cook County Board approved an ordinance that bans smoking in restaurants and most other public places and workplaces.
Attorneys for the village say Northbrook trustees can preempt that county law if they enact local measures, but believe that parts of the county ordinance will be in effect here if the board opts to do nothing. Local law now bans smoking in public meeting areas and requires non-smoking sections in restaurants, but lack overall restrictions on smoking in workplaces.
Trustees have said they are inclined to support tighter restrictions, but plan to consider alternatives that would fall short of a total ban, such as restricting smoking to later hours at restaurants or creating special permits for smoking events such as cigar dinners.
Hundreds of residents organized as Citizens for a Smoke Free Northbrook are pushing the village to adopt a ban with no exceptions, similar to one Lake Forest passed in August. They say the dangers of second-hand smoke are well-documented and unsafe at any levels, and that studies have shown that smoking bans don't hurt business.
Public opposition to a sweeping smoking ban from Northbrook's business community has been muted.
Northbrook's Chamber of Commerce has not taken a position on the issue because members are divided on it, but the group earlier this summer conveyed the results of its own survey to trustees. The six respondents to that survey, which was sent to 25 full-service restaurants, all stated the decision on smoking should rest with business owners. They also said owners should be given plenty of time to adjust to any further restrictions that might be enacted.
Chamber President Tensley Garris said it's possible that many business owners, and their customers, have resigned themselves to the idea of smoking bans, whether enacted on the local level or eventually by the state.
"I think one of the things that surprised me is the restaurant community, in terms of its level of priority on this issue, did not believe it to be that big of an issue," Garris said. "They sort of all felt that it should be left up to them whether they allow smoking or go smoke-free, but when you ask the follow-up question as to how important this is, none of them put very important."
Among those who share that sentiment is Larry Bryant, general manager of the Palm Restaurant at Northbrook Court. In May he told trustees he doesn't believe new laws are needed because restaurants are finding ways to accommodate both smokers and non-smokers.
At his location, smoking is restricted to a separate enclosed lounge area and the restaurant sometimes hosts cigar dinners without complaints from other customers. At other times, such as Mother's Day and other busy holidays, the whole facility is designated non-smoking. The arrangement works, Bryant said, but he acknowledged its days may be limited.
"I like having the option, but if everybody's in the same boat and it all goes (non-smoking), then there's nothing to really talk about. I can't imagine with Lake Forest taking it on and a couple other villages recently that it's not going to go county-wide or state-wide," Bryant said.
In May, Landmark Inn owner John Minginas urged the board not to pass a total ban because his late-night business is mostly smokers, and he had invested $30,000 to provide filtering equipment. He has declined to comment on the issue since that time and could not be reached this week.
Read
Ken Goze Pioneer Press, Northbrook Star
cc: Letter to the Editor/Commentary
RE: Local smoking ban pushed, Aug. 24, 2006, BY KEN GOZE
Northbrook has a population of approximately 34,000 as of 2005, according to Wikipedia.org’s website. The Pioneer Press recently published that hundreds of residents within the Village have organized themselves as Citizens for a Smoke Free Northbrook and have amassed about 1,000 signatures on petitions calling for an ordinance to make "public" places smoke-free. Public buildings are already smoke-free and have been for many years in Illinois. I cannot understand how this small percentage of residents can be considered a significant representation of public opinion, especially when the smoking ordinance now proposed was not initiated by Northbrook prior to Chicago and Cook County’s bans and it intrudes upon the private property rights of business owners.
When small businesses account for about two-thirds of our country's economic growth and new jobs, it is difficult to comprehend why Northbrook would choose to institute an ordinance which will hurt those same business owners. A restaurant owner who does not permit smoking will see it as a violation of his property rights if a coalition uses the political arena to create legislation forcing him to permit smoking. It is no less of a property rights violation in reverse. If a restaurant owner wishes to permit smoking, he might put up a “Smoking Permitted” sign and let potential patrons decide whether they wish to enter. Similarly, if an owner doesn’t permit smoking, he might put up a “No Smoking” sign and again let the customers decide.
In most cases, reduced hospitality revenues have been the main objection raised against more intrusive smoking bans. The basic invasion of our individual freedoms and personal right-to-choice, under our Bill of Rights, are being neglected though. Smokers' rights are equal to non-smokers’ rights; no more and no less. Our Ninth Amendment was intended to protect individual freedoms.
Amendment IX states: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."
The ‘Right to Smoke’ in decently filtrated and ventilated public or private places, where the owners allow it, is such a protected right.
Seldom anticipated and negative side effects of hospitality industry smoking bans also include increased outdoor noise levels and litter. In addition, patrons who are smokers will no longer be able to run bar tabs if they are required to leave the premises to smoke outdoors. Following a few excursions to once favorite and now non-smoking environments, the twenty-four percent of our population who smoke will have their desire to return for another "smoke free" experience greatly reduced.
Let Northbrook set the personal choice standards for other Cook County suburbs and refuse to capitulate to unreasonable demands for their business owners and one quarter of their residents. Smoking bans have never really been about health. They are about money, power, and social engineering.
Garnet Dawn
Lake Bluff, Illinois
Illinois Smokers Rights - http://www.illinoissmokersrights.com/
Local smoking ban pushed
Workplaces, bars, eateries targets
Hundreds of residents organized as Citizens for a Smoke Free Northbrook are actively seeking public support for a ban on smoking in public here. Trustees are expected to revisit the issue Sept. 18.
The Village Board first discussed whether to further restrict smoking in May, after the Cook County Board approved an ordinance that bans smoking in restaurants and most other public places and workplaces.
Attorneys for the village say Northbrook trustees can preempt that county law if they enact less restrictive local measures, but believe that parts of the county ordinance will be in effect here if the board opts to do nothing.
Local law now bans smoking in public meeting areas and requires non-smoking sections in restaurants, but lacks overall restrictions on smoking in workplaces.
Citizens for a Smoke Free Northbrook earlier this summer amassed about 1,000 signatures on petitions calling for an ordinance to make the village's public places smoke-free. But more recently, the group has focused its efforts on building support among businesses and recruiting volunteers to turn out to meetings, said Sandra Lewis, one of its coordinators.
Lewis said evidence that second-hand smoke is dangerous is abundant, and the group is working to counter the belief that smoking bans hurt businesses' revenues.
Lewis said a growing body of research has shown that smoke-free communities, if anything, see stronger food and beverage sales than those where smoking is allowed.. She said the group is seeking the support of restaurateurs who already have barred smoking from their premises, as well as comments from business owners elsewhere on their experience with smoking bans.
Northbrook trustees have said they want to explore a range of options, including restricting smoking during certain hours, limiting it to walled-off areas or allowing it by permit for special events such as cigar dinners.
Lewis said her group sees no room for such compromises, since ventilation systems and other devices have not been shown to eliminate the cancer-causing compounds of smoke from indoor areas.
"We really find that the only acceptable solution is a complete and total ban on smoking in all public places, including restaurants and bars," Lewis said.
Lewis noted nearly 45 percent of the population of Illinois already lives in communities that have restricted public smoking, and 23 states have adopted comprehensive bans.
Northbrook's Chamber of Commerce has not taken a position on the issue because members are divided on it, but the group earlier this summer conveyed the results of its own survey to trustees. In that survey, which was sent out to 25 full-service restaurants, six responded, and all of them felt the decision on smoking should rest with business owners. They also said owners should be given plenty of time to adjust to any further restrictions that might be enacted.
The issue is scheduled to be discussed when trustees meet at 8 p.m. Sept. 18 in Village Hall, 1225 Cedar Lane.
Read
