Burlington moved a step closer to extending its current restrictions on smoking to cover most outdoor areas in the downtown business area.
Intended as a public health measure, proposed ordinance amendments would prohibit outdoor smoking from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. between South Winooski Avenue and Pine Street, and between Pearl and King Streets. Exceptions are included for private property, sidewalk space leased to business owners, and a designated area in City Hall Park.
In a separate resolution, Independent Sharon Bush and Democrat Joan Shannon, along with Democrat Bram Kranichfeld, who opposes the outdoor smoking ban, proposed a designated smoking area covering about a fourth of the park. The same portion was recently the site of an encampment by Occupy protesters for two weeks. Several residents criticized the park exception during the public comment period.
In a 12-2 vote, the council referred the amendments and resolution back to the Ordinance Committee for further work.
“This has been a long in coming,” said Shannon. “In the process, we decided to designate a committee” to help.
The initial proposal allowed park vendors to smoke and created a smoking area at the top of the municipal parking garage. In the end, the committee dropped those exceptions and opted instead to recommend a daytime ban, except in City Hall Park.
“Smoking is not the issue,” argued Republican Paul Decelles, one of the two no votes. “It’s the undesirables, the panhandlers.” He questioned whether such a ban is what Burlington residents want and suggested putting an advisory referendum on the ballot to assess local sentiment.
Kranichfeld objected to being included as a sponsor of the ordinance changes because he is a member of the Ordinance Committee. He also questioned the use of police to handle public smokers, pointing to other, more serious local problems. “We heard from the police that although this would be enforced, it would be a low priority, enforced selectively,” he said.
Kranichfeld also questioned the “carve out” for businesses on Church Street. “This confuses the issue,” he said. “We’re effectively saying you can smoke on Church Street, but you have to spend money at a restaurant or café.”
Bushor insisted that the ordinance is about smoking and its impact of people, and “not a smokescreen to deal with some other issue.” She thinks that people will “self-enforce” and does not expect police to actively pursue people, unless the behavior is chronic or they are ignoring new signs. She added that the hours acknowledged the reality that more people who visit downtown at night are smokers.
The park exemption is a temporary solution, Bushor added, an attempt “to accommodate people” who have nowhere else to go.
“We’re right up there with Scandinavian countries,” said City Councilor Ed Adrian. He agreed that the ordinance is not intended as “an indirect way to target certain people.”
Progressive Councilor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak expressed the hope that further review would lead to rethinking of the park exemption. She called the employee issue tricky. “The committee hasn’t yet fully examined the impact on employees, especially those who have to walk to a smoking area during breaks, she said.
“People live downtown and get home before 9 p.m.,” she continued. “How will this interface with their personal choices?” Mulvaney-Stanak also worries that “allowing people to smoke in a leased space means you have to buy something,” seeing issues of economic fairness.
“When we pass a law, we do it with the purpose of sending a message to our citizens,” Democrat Norm Blais said. “I believe this is the right call.”
Republican Vince Dober disputed the level of public support. Dober, who attended the session by phone, reported that the business owners he has contacted oppose the ban. Dober also questioned whether it will help people quit smoking, although “maybe they’ll quit Burlington.”
Mayor Kiss concluded that the idea needs more work. Republican candidate Kurt Wright agreed, expressing the hope that the Ordinance Committee can develop an improved compromise. “City Hall Park should not be a designated smoking area,” Wright added.
He also wants to know “whether there is a bigger concern” among business owners. “But I am not hearing it so far,” Wright said. He suggested incorporating a sunset provision.
A recent survey of 180 visitors to Burlington from Quebec found that only 14 percent smoke and 92 percent would continue to visit Church Street if smoking was banned from the entire pedestrian area. “Our culture is changing and becoming less tolerant,” Shannon noted. “We have an opportunity to lead.”
Asked to review the proposed ordinance, Vermont Commissioner of Health Dr. Harry Chen, a Burlington resident, applauded the effort but suggested “taking away one major exemption, allowing outdoor smoking in restaurants and bars.” The rules should apply to all restaurants and bars within the same hours, he urged.
Although the goal should be a smoke-free City Hall park, he said, the designated area in the park was a reasonable transition step.
During a 45 minute public forum, most of the comments focused on the proposed new restrictions, running more than two-to-one in favor.
Jeff Nick, a real estate develop who chairs the Church Street Marketplace Commision, said that the smoking task force considered an overall ban but scaled back to reduce the impact on private property and make it possible for downtown employees to smoke outdoors. “Our overarching goal was to make smoking avoidable for visitors,” he explained.
Kevin White, one of several residents who spoke against the restrictions, argued that smoking isn’t the only health danger people encounter downtown, mentioning car exhausts, and called the proposed restrictions the wrong way to reduce “undesirable behavior.”
Speaking for the Burlington Partnership for a Healthy Community, Mariah Sanderson said that her group has raised $2,000 to assist with signage and will help the city develop a compliance plan.
Smoking bans vary widely across the US. According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, bans on smoking in workplaces, restaurants and bars currently reach almost 80 percent of the US population, including residents in the 60 biggest cities. Some communities still don’t regulate smoking, but many ban it selectively.
In 2005, Vermont prohibited smoking at most indoor workplaces, including bars and restaurants. It is one of the few states with a statewide ban that doesn’t expressly exempt tobacco sellers and the only one that doesn’t allow designated hotel and motel smoking rooms. In Burlington, South Burlington, Williston and Winooski, smoking is banned in all bars and restaurants.
