Laguna Hills Votes to Ban Smoking in Restaurant Bars

Setting the first such policy in Orange County, the City Council voted Tuesday night to ban smoking in restaurant bars.

Citing the health of bar employees and their customers, the council embraced the ban that will go into effect Jan. 1, 1998, unless a statewide law is passed sooner.

The ordinance, proposed by Councilman Randal J. Bressette, passed 3 to 2, with Mayor L. Allan Songstad Jr. and Councilman Joel T. Lautenschleger dissenting.

“Employees are at risk and patrons are at risk,” Councilman R. Craig Scott said.

In 1993, Laguna Hills became one of the first Orange County cities to ban smoking in virtually all public indoor places, including offices, stores and restaurants except for bar areas. The law prohibited smoking in workplaces with five or more employees and banished cigarette machines from the city, even in bars.

In 1995, the council debated but decided against a ban on smoking in bars. Officials said at the time that the ordinance would be redundant, given that AB 13, a state law to prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars without proper ventilation systems, was about to be enacted.

But the state has delayed implementation of that law to January 1998 and perhaps beyond, prompting the City Council to reconsider action of its own.

Officials say the issue is of particular concern in Laguna Hills, which has no bars. The only public places where people can smoke and drink are at the few restaurants that have separate bar areas.

That was a factor in the council’s decision in 1995 not to expand the no-smoking law to include bars, and those concerns were raised again this week.

Only three people addressed the council Tuesday night about the ordinance, all Mission Viejo residents.

“I don’t believe our smoking ordinance has gone as far as it needs to go, but I don’t think it needs to go any further,” Songstad said. “I think there is enough government in our lives.”

The vote was lauded by health advocates who attended the meeting.

“We commend Laguna Hills for its leadership in enacting its own smoke-free legislation. . . . Tonight, we ask that you extend that protection to waiters, waitresses, bartenders and bar patrons,” said Jodie Moncrief of the American Heart Assn. “We believe these citizens deserve the right to enjoy both their work and their leisure time free from the dangers of environmental or secondhand tobacco smoke.”