Beverly Hills : Restaurants Given Deadline

The City Council on Tuesday gave owners of the city’s 60 largest restaurants until Dec. 15 to submit plans for installing ventilation systems to keep tobacco smoke out of nonsmoking sections of dining areas.

The tentative ordinance requires owners to have the systems in place by June 15, 1988. In addition, plans that are not approved by the Dec. 15 deadline must be revised and resubmitted within 30 days. The systems range in price from a few hundred dollars to $25,000, according to city planners.

The council in July voted to amend its no-smoking ordinance to allow smoking sections in restaurants if owners agreed to install ventilation systems. Previously, the law prohibited smoking outright in most restaurants seating more than 50 customers.

Under the amended law, no restaurants, even those seating fewer than 50 customers, may create smoking sections until they have submitted floor plans showing that at least half of the dining area will be reserved for nonsmokers. For restaurants seating more than 50 customers, the floor plans must be followed by the plans for installing ventilation systems.