Culver City : Smoking Ban Approved

Smoking will be prohibited in Culver City restaurants with fewer than 25 seats, the City Council decided Monday. The council also directed city staff to research the use of dual ventilation systems in restaurants with smoking and nonsmoking sections.

The council voted 4 to 1 for the ban, with Councilwoman Jozelle Smith opposed. “I think it would be horrendous for the little mom-and-pop restaurants,” said Smith, a nonsmoker. Forty Culver City restaurateurs signed a petition opposing the ban and requirements that restaurants with smoking sections install special ventilation, said Rudy Cole of Restaurants for a Sensible Voluntary Policy on Smoking. Cole said his statewide group includes 1,000 restaurant owners and operators in Los Angeles County.

“I think (the City Council is) going to hear from the small restaurants in the community,” Cole said.

A 1987 ordinance restricts smoking to no more than 34% of a restaurant’s seating. Restaurants with fewer than 25 seats were exempt from the ordinance because of the difficulty of separating seating areas.

The smoking ban was recommended to the City Council by the Human Services and Park Commission, which said that secondhand smoke could endanger the health of nonsmokers.

“We believe that (the ban) is a legitimate exercise of the city’s police power,” said Andrew Weissman, commission chairman. “There’s no way to protect the nonsmoker from the smoker in that size of restaurant. If one person smokes, every person in the restaurant is affected.”

The commission also recommended that new restaurants and those that plan to spend $75,000 or more on remodeling be required to install ventilation systems to circulate air separately for smoking and nonsmoking sections. That requirement would hurt restaurants financially, Cole said.

“Restaurants . . . may think twice about coming to your community,” Cole told the council.

The council directed city staff to investigate the costs of dual ventilation systems. “I’m troubled that we not be a community that so regulates or restricts that we’re not competitive,” said Councilman Paul Jacobs.