BURBANK SMOKING BAN EXTENDED TO OUTDOOR SITES.

Byline: EUGENE TONG

Staff Writer

BURBANK -- As Mike Karch puffed away on an American Spirit outside a downtown cafe Wednesday, he was still fuming about the City Council's passage of new, outdoor smoking restrictions.

"I told my friends I was going to smoke my last cigarette," said Karch, 34, of Burbank, who has been smoking since he was 17. "It doesn't make sense to me. It will affect a lot of businesses."

But the tough new ordinance, intended to limit secondhand smoke, won't entirely stamp out smoking throughout the city, according to city leaders and officials.

The council voted 3-2 early Wednesday to introduce the Secondhand Smoke Control Ordinance, which would curb smoking in all city parks and facilities including sidewalks, alleys and plazas downtown.

It also would restrict smoking at the entrances of businesses, apartments and condominiums, at the Chandler Bikeway, while waiting in lines outdoors, on public transit and at stations, at public events and shows, in pedestrian areas of outdoor malls and in elevators.

"I think it's a great start and, honestly, I think the city has come up with a pretty comprehensive ordinance that addresses our concerns," said Eric Michael Cap, one of its proponents. "I'm very happy with it."

But the panel softened the blow by making it easier for some businesses and residences to set up designated smoking areas. While the original proposal required smoke-free zones of up to 20 feet from the restricted areas, smokers patronizing downtown businesses can light up just 5 feet from the entrance.

The change would allow most area cafes or restaurants with outdoor patios to retain their smoking areas, said Joe McDougall, a city attorney reviewing the ordinance. The 5-foot rule also applies to restaurants with outdoor dining and at apartment and condo entrances.

Joe Georges, whose family operates a cafe and restaurant downtown that offers hookahs -- water pipes used to smoke fruit-flavored tobacco -- said the changes will allow him to stay in business.

"It will still affect me, but it's better than them banning the whole thing," he said. "I'm still not happy with it, but they did take consideration of some of the business owners."

Mayor Todd Campbell, who was in favor of the ordinance, said it was a matter of choice.

"This is a huge win for public health and a huge win for our community," he said after the hearing. "If you want a smoke-free Burbank, you'll be able to experience it. If you want to smoke, you can do it in a designated area."

Campbell and council members Jef Vander Borght and Marsha Ramos voted in favor of the ordinance, while Councilmen David Golonski and David Gordon dissented. The ordinance will return for a second reading Tuesday before it is enacted.

Golonski said he supports curbing secondhand smoke, but feels the ordinance is too much, too soon.

"They made pretty significant changes, based on what we heard last night," he said after the hearing. "I'm not sure if there are other situations the council is perhaps unaware of. ... It may be better to tread lightly and do it in steps."

Burbank's ordinance comes barely more than a year after the city of Calabasas enacted one of the nation's toughest municipal smoking bans, which extends to all public places, apartment common areas, restaurants and bars, with few exceptions.

"(Smoking is) dangerous," said Melanie Wong, 42, who works at a downtown dance studio. "It just gets in your face. (The ordinance) may encourage people to stop smoking."

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

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