Smokers Won’t Have to Snuff Puffs in Del Mar

Del Mar voters Tuesday handily rejected Proposition N, which would have banned smoking in most public places and created the most sweeping anti-smoking ordinance in the country.

“We were expecting defeat because the issue became so clouded and so confused,” said former Mayor Richard Roe, the measure’s major sponsor. “People thought incorrectly that it would ban smoking everywhere and that restaurants would lose lots of business.”

Roe said he may resubmit the measure for voter approval unless the City Council, which he bypassed in writing Proposition N, toughens the city’s current anti-smoking ordinance.

‘Ahead of Our Time’

“We may have been ahead of our time, but not by much,” he said. “If Del Mar isn’t the first city, then another city will be--maybe Mendocino--because the health issues are not going away. The council is on notice that Del Mar cares about its health.”

Proposition N was meant to ban smoking at all public beaches, sidewalks, streets, alleys and parks. The Del Mar Fairgrounds, private cars, outdoor cafes on public land and motel rooms would have been exempt.

The measure would have required the City Council to rope off three public smoking areas.

The campaign proved anew that Del Mar, San Diego County’s smallest city (5,200 residents), is one of its most politically volatile and, occasionally, eccentric.

Roe, in an election eve mailer, accused the anti-N forces of hiring former Del Mar Mayor Tom Shepard “to mount a misleading campaign” by overestimating the cost of implementing the ordinance and branding it as unenforceable.

Five Del Mar physicians sent out a letter urging a “yes” vote so that the community “can help the world take a giant step forward towards a healthful smoke-free society.” Roe said Del Mar was particularly suited to such an ordinance because of its concern with personal health and the environment.

The anti-N campaign, financed by the newly formed Del Mar Restaurant Assn., said Proposition N would be a violation of civil liberties and would require costly remodeling in offices and restaurants. One mailer implied that Roe only proposed the ordinance so that he could get on television.

Roe, who has not held a public office since 1982, continually denied that the N campaign was meant to propel him back into politics.

The measure was met by a solid wall of opposition from the Chamber of Commerce, local merchants, civil libertarians like millionaire developer Harvey Furgatch, and members of the city’s “green” party, which generally supports environmental proposals.

Proposition N failed to get endorsements from the Berkeley-based Americans for Nonsmokers Rights or from health organizations involved in the anti-smoking fight because of a concern that it was too radical and could actually undermine the nationwide campaign against smoking.

One official with an anti-smoking group said Proposition N could become a rallying cry for a pro-smoking backlash.

Part of the debate concerned the relative danger posed by secondhand smoke outdoors.

Opponents asserted that no medical evidence exists connecting such smoke with health problems because the smoke is quickly dispersed in the open air. But the doctors’ letter said that “outside or inside, sidestream smoke is dangerous and irritating.”

The current anti-smoking ordinance in Del Mar requires smoke-free sections in offices and restaurants and bans smoking in retail stores, theaters, supermarkets and public buildings.

Roe envisioned the ban as self-enforcing, like parking restrictions. At first, public smokers would be warned. If they persisted, a first infraction would mean a fine as high as $100, a second infraction within a year would mean a fine as high as $200.