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Newport Beach : Anti-Smoking Ordinance Up for Final Approval

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Newport Beach’s anti-smoking ordinance, tentatively approved by the City Council at its last meeting, will come up for a final vote Monday night.

The ordinance would become effective July 24, making Newport Beach the second city in Orange County to adopt such a law. In February, Laguna Beach adopted a smoking ordinance, and two weeks ago, the county Board of Supervisors approved a ban on smoking in county buildings.

Under the proposed ordinance, restaurants with capacities for more than 50 customers would be required to set aside 25% of their floor space for non-smokers. In a letter last Monday to Mayor Philip Maurer, the Newport Beach Restaurant Assn. had asked the council to make that provision voluntary.

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“We are the ones who know our clientele best and are the most qualified to adjust the non-smoking areas in our restaurants,” the letter stated. “ . . . Hard-and-fast rules will not be the panacea for non-smokers.”

The measure would require businesses to prohibit smoking in work areas if even one employee requested it and to expand no-smoking areas if complaints continued.

Smoking also would be illegal during indoor public meetings and in elevators, public restrooms, theaters and auditoriums. Violators could be fined $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second and $250 for each successive offense within a single year.

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