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ALERT!
Proposed Ingam County Smoking Ban
On Monday, June 18, 2001, the Ingham County Human Services Committee will hold a hearing on a proposed Clean Air Regulation which would create a de facto smoking ban in all restaurants and bars. If passed by the Human Services Committee and the Ingham County Board of Commissioners, the proposed ordinance would: - Limit smoking sections in all restaurants and bars to 20% or less of an establishment’s seating;
- Require restaurants and bars that permit smoking to separately enclose the smoking section with floor to ceiling walls; and,
- Require use of separate ventilation systems for smoking and non-smoking systems.
To voice your opinion on the Ingham County Clean Air Regulation, attend the hearing on: Monday, June 18th, 7:00 p.m. Ingham County Health Department in Conference Room A
5305 S. Cedar Street, Lansing (south of Jolly Road) The Michigan Restaurant Association also urges you to contact the county commissioners who sit on the Human Services Committee and urge them to oppose the resolution for the following reasons: - The 20% limit directly conflicts with what state law specifically permits. State law specifically permits foodservice establishments with more than 50 seats to dedicate up to 50% of their seating for smoking patrons (75% for establishments with fewer than 50 seats). A 1998 Circuit Court ruling and a 2001 Court of Appeals ruling found that a similar ordinance passed by the City of Marquette violated state law. Under the Court of Appeals ruling, this section of the Ingham County regulation would be in violation of state statute because “it seeks to regulate an area already regulated under state statute and it directly opposes what the state statute specifically allows.” It is clear that, when challenged in court, this section will be invalidated and costly for the county to defend.
- The ventilation and construction standards conflict with state law. Effective August 1, 2001, municipalities are prohibited from enforcing a construction standard which differs from the statewide code adopted by the State Construction Code Commission. Although unchallenged in court as of today, this section clearly conflicts with the Single State Construction Code Act.
- The market place is working. Besides the fact that state law currently permits every restaurant to prohibit smoking at any time, Lansing ranked 5th in the state in the number of smoke free dining options with 66. (Source: Michigan Department of Community Health press release of 7/6/2000) Furthermore, according to the Michigan Citizens for Smoke Free Air, the number of restaurants offering smoke free dining has increased by 23.5% per year since 1998 to nearly 3,000 statewide!
- A smoking ban in Ingham County restaurants places Ingham County businesses at a disadvantage with businesses in the surrounding counties. The proposed ordinance won’t eliminate smoking. This ordinance will drive customers to surrounding counties that don’t have smoking bans.
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Your Voice Counts!
Contact the members of the Human Services Committee at 517/676-7200 or e-mail them at the address below: Comm. John Czarnecki-Chair bcbeck@ingham.org Comm. Lisa Dedden ldedden@ingham.org Comm. Curtis Hertel, Jr. chertel@ingham.org Comm. Vic Celentino vcelentino@ingham.org Comm. Mike Severino mike@severino.org
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