DeKalb County is one step closer to joining a number of smoke-free communities in metro Atlanta, but not everybody is happy about it.
Thursday, DeKalb's Board of Health voted to recommend to the County Commission an expanded no-smoking ordinance that includes bars, clubs, restaurant patios and outdoor areas.
At a public hearing Thursday, 20 people spoke, 17 in support of the proposal, one who was neutral and two against it. The two who spoke against a smoking ban represented the nightclub industry, which is included in the proposal. They asked the board to exclude places that serve alcohol from the proposed ordinance.
“We cater to smokers,” said Keith Barkers, operations manager of Pin Ups, an adult entertainment venue. “And if we have to become a nonsmoking establishment, the people who really want to smoke will take their business elsewhere, and we don’t want to lose any business.”
Barkers said he, and likely other club managers and owners, will continue to follow the proposal as it makes its way through the County Commission.
Dr. S. Elizabeth Ford, a district director for the Board of Health, said for every argument of lost revenue, she can counter with an argument for better health and cleaner air.
“This is really more about the people who work in these establishments,” she said. “This is about creating a healthy work environment for all employees in DeKalb County.”
DeKalb’s current ordinance allows smoking at free-standing bars, adult entertainment establishments and outdoor venues, including parks. The proposed ordinance would exclude smoking in these places and a number of others, such as playgrounds, entrances and exits to buildings, outdoor entertainment venues and outdoor service lines, such as the line at an ATM. The proposal also would decrease the number of rooms a hotel can designate for smoking from 25 percent to 10 percent.
Smoking would be allowed in private residences, unless those residences also double as a place of employment such as a day care, personal care home or heath care facility. Smoking would also be allowed in designated outdoor areas at places of employment, as long as those areas are not within 20 feet of entrances, exits or common areas, unless the employer has deemed the area to be smoke-free.
If the County Commission takes the Board of Health’s recommendation, DeKalb would join several cities in the metro area that have banned outdoor smoking.
Roswell passed a smoking ban for its 18 municipal parks last summer. Marietta passed a tobacco ban for its 19 parks in 2009.
Alpharetta approved an ordinance, in March, banning tobacco use at its six city parks and along more than six miles of greenway trails.
Ford said the recommendation from the Board of Health was the easy part.
"This is the health agency, so I would not have expected our vote to go any other way," she said. "There is hard work ahead as it goes to the County Commission."
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