The city of Dallas may join a long list to ban smoking in bars.
A bevy of fiery words – “communistic” and “Nazi.” No expanded Dallas smoking ordinance proposal – yet.
So it went Monday night, as a Dallas City Council committee studying whether to ban smoking in a variety of new city venues scheduled yet another meeting before bringing a proposed ordinance before the full council.
At this juncture, the six-member council committee is leaning toward recommending a smoking ban inside bars and billiard halls and within 15 feet of the entrances to publicly accessible buildings. (Dallas today bans smoking in most indoor workplaces, including restaurants.)
Council members, meanwhile, expressed little interest in banning smoking in tobacco shops, vehicles and most outdoor areas.
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Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said he believes all interest groups are receiving a fair hearing. But he added that he wants the smoking law expansion to be resolved by year’s end.
The Dallas City Hall blog has a handy reference guide (PDF) to the approaches other cities have taken. I’ll say again that I think this is a situation that will eventually be resolved by the Legislature. In the meantime, I wish Dallas luck in getting this done.