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City smoking bans still stand Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 By Doug Thompson Arkansas News Bureau FAYETTEVILLE - Local smoking bans will still cover some circumstances not covered by the new statewide smoking ban approved last week, officials in cities with no-smoking ordinances said Tuesday. The state law, which will take effect in July, prohibits smoking in most workplaces, including restaurants and other employers with more than three workers. Establishments open only to people 21 and older are exempt. Fairfield Bay in Van Buren County has a smoking ban that does not allow smoking in bars, restaurants or private clubs, regardless of age. Fayetteville's smoking ban applies to restaurants, which the city has defined as an establishment that prepares food and "basically serves anything except packaged food" such as snacks, said city attorney Kit Williams. Pine Bluff has banned smoking in public places, in all city vehicles and on city property. The Pine Bluff ordinance exempts bars and retail tobacco shops, and creates a no-smoking buffer zone of 10 feet around any public doorway. The state law doesn't mention food at all, Williams said, so there is a difference between Fayetteville's definition of a bar and the state's exemption for 21-year-old patrons, which applies to bars. Williams said he did not know how much the difference will matter. "The state law has basically no effect on city ordinances, which remain in effect as long as they are more strict than the state law," Williams said. "A city ordinance doesn't overrule state law. A city ordinance can't make things less strict than state law." Fayetteville's smoking ban was passed in a city-wide election. Although much of Fayetteville's ordinance covers the same ground as state law now, Williams said the city ordinance will probably remain on the books because the city would be reluctant to remove an ordinance approved in an election. "You don't want to thwart the will of the people," he said. |
