LAGUNA HILLS : Anti-Smoking Law Challenge Falls Short

A drive to force a referendum on the city’s strict anti-smoking ordinance has failed because the number of valid signatures on a petition fell far short of the required minimum, city officials announced Friday.

The petition’s failure means the ordinance, which prohibits smoking in virtually “all enclosed areas available to and customarily used by the public” and bans cigarette vending machines, is now in effect, said Don White, the city’s administrative services director.

Smoking will still be allowed in bars that are separately ventilated or closed off from other public areas. The ordinance calls for a complete ban on smoking in restaurants to be phased in over a year.

The petition, submitted with 1,357 signatures by an opposition group called the Committee for Better Restaurants, Business and Jobs was found by the county Registrar of Voters to have only 753 names of the city’s voting residents. The number required to force a referendum on the ordinance was 1,215, or 10% of the city’s registered voters.

White said the petition drive’s failure “supports the city’s position that there are an overwhelming number of residents and businesses who support the ordinance.”

The ordinance originally had been scheduled to go into effect Sept. 24.

The opposition group, composed of about a dozen members whose businesses would be affected by the ordinance, complained that it would cause some businesses to fail. They said they feared many of their customers would drive to nearby communities where smoking is allowed.

The Laguna Hills and South County chambers of commerce also opposed the smoking ban.

Kelly Kuntz, the group’s leader, said he does not intend any further legal challenges to the ordinance.

“From this point forward, we will continue to work with Laguna Hills to improve the ordinance and make it more palatable for business,” Kuntz said.