[C-U Smokefree] Proposed smoking ban tougher than Skokie's

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Smoke free news from Northern Illinois.

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Proposed smoking ban tougher than Skokie's 
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Wilmette targets most public areas, including bars

By Sue Laue
Special to the Tribune

November 3, 2003

A proposed ordinance in Wilmette banning smoking in nearly all public places, including bars and restaurants, would be more restrictive than a similar ban in Skokie that is considered the strictest in the state, officials said.

Many local restaurant and business owners have urged trustees to defeat the measure when it comes up for a vote on Nov. 11.

"It's not government's place to tell business owners and people what they have to do, that they have no choice," said Art Falzer, owner of CJ Arthur's and Old Wilmette Depot restaurants.

Falzer estimated that the smoking ban would cost him $40,000 a year in lost business.

Businesses should be allowed to continue to decide on their own whether to ban smoking, said Julie Yusim, director of the Wilmette Chamber of Commerce.

But village officials defend the proposed ban.

Diane Hackbarth, chairwoman of the Wilmette Board of Health, which proposed the ban, said she believes many people want trustees to approve the smoking ban.

"People generally support clean indoor air, and public health protections should be applied equally to all residents," Hackbarth said.

Many public places and work sites in Wilmette are already smoke-free.

Larger employers--such as Wilmette Elementary School District 39 with 500 employees, Carson Pirie Scott with around 390, National-Louis University with 350, and the village with 250 employees--already ban smoking in their buildings, officials said.

The Wilmette Bowling Center, 1903 Schiller Ave., has banned smoking for about three years, said Toni Strange, the manager. She supports the proposed ordinance.

Wilmette has modeled its proposal in part on a measure that Skokie passed in July.

Skokie bans smoking in shopping malls, workplaces, sports stadiums and most restaurants. The law exempts bars, tobacco shops and bowling alleys. Around 29 restaurants have until next July to separate bars by installing floor-to-ceiling barriers and ventilation systems to allow smoking.

Five free-standing bars in Skokie are exempt from the ban.

Wilmette's proposal has fewer exemptions.

"Wilmette's ban would extend to all restaurants, bars and places of employment," said Matt Maloney, health director for the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago. "It's good for the community as a whole."

Skokie's ordinance and Wilmette's proposed measure both allow smoking in retail tobacco shops.

"We're not trying to put those people out of business," said Lowell Huckleberry, Skokie's health director.

A first violation of the proposed ordinance in Wilmette would range from $50 to $100, up to $200 for a second violation and up to $500 for a third violation.


Copyright (c) 2003, Chicago Tribune

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