Camarillo Will Choose Between 2 Smoking Laws : Health: One bans lighting up in public places except for bars and tobacco shops, the other permits puffing in locations with the proper facilities.

Pressured by small-business owners, smokers’ rights advocates and staunch anti-smokers alike, the Camarillo City Council is set to choose between two versions of a smoking ordinance at its meeting Wednesday.

The council is scheduled to choose between an ordinance that would permit smoking in most public places--where there are completely separate no-smoking sections and which have separate ventilation systems--and an ordinance that would effectively ban smoking in all public places except for bars and tobacco shops.

The anti-smoking movement has been shepherded by City Councilwoman Charlotte Craven, who said Monday that she would like to see the more stringent of the two versions adopted by the council but would consider voting for the more permissive version in order to get an anti-smoking city law on the books.

“I look at this like I always have--it’s a matter of public health,” Craven said. “At the same time, I know that it takes three votes to get anything accomplished. I’m willing to listen to a compromise solution if necessary.”

But according to Dorothy Walden, owner of Dorothy’s Chuckwagon Cafe, either ordinance would hurt her business.

“My customers have told me that if (the council) passes a no-smoking ordinance, they won’t be back,” Walden said. “I don’t think this is right and it stands to really hurt my business.”

Walden said that she would prefer an ordinance that would effectively let business owners decide for themselves what kind of place to have: smoking or nonsmoking.

“We would decide based on what our customers are saying,” Walden said. “Then we would place large signs in the window that would alert patrons as to what kind of place they were entering.”

But the only way to assure nonsmokers that they will not be affected by secondhand smoke is by passing the tougher of the two proposed ordinances, said Bernard Firestone, a spokesman for Camarillo Voters for Health Coalition, a group that recently formed over the heated issue.

Firestone, in a written statement, claimed that a majority of Camarillo residents do not smoke and would support the creation of a strong anti-smoking ordinance.

“This is a health issue, not a business or political issue,” Firestone said. “If our elected officials will not support this no-smoking ordinance, we will vote for those who will.”

On March 9, the council opted to send the proposed ordinances back to its own legislative committee and to staff for further review. During that meeting, dozens of residents and merchants spoke out against the adoption of any smoking ordinance in the city, saying that such a law would unfairly violate their rights and personal freedoms.

Other speakers lauded the council for following in the footsteps of other Ventura County cities that have recently adopted no-smoking ordinances out of concern for nonsmokers.

FYI

The Camarillo City Council will consider adoption of a smoking ordinance during its meeting Wednesday at City Hall at 601 Carmen Drive. The regular meeting starts at 5 p.m. but the anti-smoking ordinance will not be considered by the council until its 7:30 p.m. session.