Smyrna leaders have voted to impose a ban on smoking in its Downtown Design District.
The City Council on Monday voted 6-1 to enact the prohibition in all public places along Atlanta Road between Windy Hill Road and Concord and Spring roads. Councilwoman Maryline Blackburn voted against the ban.
City Administrator Tammi Saddler Jones said the ban includes the use of traditional cigarettes as well as e-cigarettes.
She added the ban does not apply to private homes and vehicles, retail tobacco stores, designated smoking areas in public places and places of employment, banquet or meetings rooms when they are being used for private functions and cigar specialty shops.
READ: Smyrna bans tobacco sales to anyone under age of 21
City Councilman Tim Gould said the ban will give business owners in the district the opportunity to also make their establishments smoke free if they choose to go in that direction. Any future businesses that open within the district will also have to be smoke free, he said.
Mayor Max Bacon said some businesses in the Downtown Design District have clamored for Smyrna to enact an ordinance banning the use of cigarettes. In places that already don’t allow smoking, Bacon said those establishments have been “much healthier.”
Councilwoman Blackburn said she opposed the proposal because she said Smyrna should have a city-wide ban on smoking. She said other cities such as Atlanta and Savannah have already approved ordinances establishing those prohibitions.
“I don’t understand why Smyrna, Georgia, can’t be a smoke-free city,” she said.
READ: Georgia lawmakers consider ways to curb e-cigarette use
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