YORBA LINDA : Smoking Ban Loses, Will Go on Ballot

A proposed ordinance that would have banned smoking in restaurants, workplaces and other public buildings was rejected 3 to 2 Tuesday by the City Council, though the council did agree to place the issue on the November ballot as an advisory measure.

Mayor Barbara Kiley cast the deciding vote, joining Councilmen Daniel T. Welch and John M. Gullixson, who criticized the measure as too restrictive.

“The existing smoking ordinance is already quite restrictive,” Welch said, adding that the proposed ordinance “is going too far.”

“There are (currently) all kinds of places you can’t smoke,” Welch said.

If the ordinance had passed, smoking would have been prohibited in all restaurants regardless of size and all workplaces. In addition, tobacco vending machines would have been banned.

The current ordinance requires restaurants of 40 or more tables to set aside 30% of the tables for nonsmokers. Smoking is allowed in businesses with fewer than 10 employees and in private offices at businesses regardless of size. In addition, designated smoking areas may be set aside, a provision the proposed ordinance would have eliminated.

Twenty-one residents, health officials and business owners addressed the council at a public hearing on the proposed ordinance, with 12 arguing against the measure and 9 urging the council to approve it.

“Be a leader in our state and with our youth,” said Joyce Netherly, a former smoker who spoke in favor of the ordinance. “We might save lives in the future.”

But several restaurant and business owners complained that banning smoking would hurt commerce.

“I have 12,000 bowlers in here every month, and the sad fact is, 60% of them smoke,” said Tom Laspada, owner of the Yorba Linda Bowl. “If this ordinance passes, I won’t survive.”

Gary Hill, owner of the Original Pancake House, said his business was off $38,000 in the first six months after he converted his restaurant voluntarily to a smoke-free eatery last year.

“My sales did not increase,” Hill said. “I’m here to tell you (restaurants) will lose money.”

Hill went smoke-free because there was demand for tables in the nonsmoking section, while tables in the smoking section sat empty. But he has experienced a slower customer turnover, as smokers step outside to have a cigarette or two during their meal.

“They see someone they know outside, they visit, and it ties up the table longer,” he said. “A table means money.”

The cost of putting the ordinance on the ballot is about $10,000. The results will not be binding on the council, though both Gullixson and Welch have said they would support a ban if voters favor it.