Council Votes to Limit Outdoor Smoking

Attention, Elk Grove smokers: New rules are coming to town that will affect where you can light up.

The city council Wednesday voted 4-1 to approve an ordinance banning smoking within 300 feet of schools, parks and other places where children gather.

The ban contains a loophole that would allow for smoking areas to be set up in parks during the city's Pumpkin Festival and other special events.

"I think the issue is we don't want to cause secondhand smoke...but at the same time I'm not into regulating individual liberty," said Councilmember Patrick Hume in voting for the resolution with the exception.

Councilmember Sophia Scherman said she had received complaints from veterans concerned they wouldn't be able to smoke while attending the city's annual Veterans Day festivities.

The council passed the ban after previously near children's facilities. That idea failed when council members discovered that too many businesses were already selling cigarettes in those areas and by law would have to be exempted from the rules.

The 300-foot restriction applies to "schools, daycare centers, playgrounds, parks, amusement centers [and] youth sports facilities," according to the ordinance. Private homes, including yards, are exempt.

Councilmember Gary Davis cast the lone 'no' vote on the measure, saying it contained "too many loopholes."

While the exception to the ban was aimed at fairs and festivals, Davis said, the wording—which allows property owners to set up designated smoking areas at any time—could end up undercutting the law's effectiveness.

"Smoke knows no boundaries," said Davis after the vote. "You smoke in one part of a park and it can spread over into another part of the park."

The new changes to the city's municipal code also allow property owners to post 'no smoking' signs on their land, even if they don't fall within the 300-foot radius. Violators could be arrested and charged with an infraction.

The ordinance must still come before the council for a second reading this fall before it will take effect.