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No smoking in PTC?

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@thecitizennews.com

A proposed ordinance to ban smoking in most public places in Peachtree City, including restaurants, will be aired out at Thursday’s City Council meeting, with a possible vote in the offing.

The ordinance has been tweaked from its original version after a series of public meetings on the issue this summer.

As currently written, bars can be exempt from the ordinance if food constitutes less than 60 percent of their revenue, and so long as no one under 18, including employees, are allowed on the premises.

The ordinance contains a requirement for commercial establishments to have “positive air flow” to prevent smoke from filtering indoors from people who choose to smoke outdoors. That can be fixed with a service call from an HVAC repairman, with no burdensome expense for new equipment, officials said.

Because of that requirement, the distance a person can smoke from a building has been reduced to 10 feet from 25 feet in the proposed ordinance.

The proposed ordinance also offers an exemption for private clubs, so long as their building isn’t open to the public, such as on bingo nights, for example.

Home offices will also be exempted from the nonsmoking requirement under the proposed ordinance.

Anyone who smokes in a prohibited smoking area can be punished by a fine of up to $50, according to the ordinance.

A 90-day grace period has also been added to the ordinance, giving establishments and citizens extra time to prepare for complying with the ordinance if it is approved by the city council.

The city also plans to offer nonsmoking signs for restaurants to use indicating the smoke-free environment. City officials will also work with private entities to develop outdoor smoking areas.