The Des Moines City Council tonight moved a step closer to banning smoking in public garages.
The council, however, declined to take action on another idea proposed by smoking opponents that would have prohibited smoking on public property within a 20 feet radius of healthcare facilities. That idea, council members said, was too restrictive.
“My sense is we have a problem right now” with smoking in public parking ramps “and we need to deal with it,” said Councilwoman Christine Hensley, who in November proposed the smoking ban.
Hensley has said nonsmokers should not be exposed to secondhand smoke as they walk from their vehicles into the city’s skywalks.
Groups such as the American Lung Association of Iowa and the city’s parking advisory committee have endorsed the idea.
The Council today asked City Manager Rick Clark and the city’s legal team to write an ordinance to ban smoking in the garages. That ordinance will likely come back for council approval Jan. 22, City Attorney Bruce Bergman said.
Councilman Tom Vlassis, a former smoker, was the only no vote. He said more public debate is needed.
“I don’t think we’ve talked about this enough,” Vlassis said.
Six Des Moines hospitals banned smoking on their properties, effective July 1. Smoking is even disallowed in cars parked outside the hospitals. Employees, who can be fired for violations, often walk off the hospital grounds to light up.
Vlassis recently voiced concern against an idea proposed by hospital providers to also prohibit smoking around healthcare facilities, saying it would be difficult to enforce. Several residents today complimented his stand.
“Pretty soon, smokers will be classified in the same category as sex offenders and have to abide by the 2,000-foot law,” resident Kelli Soyer wrote Monday in an e-mail to Vlassis.
Originally written By: Jason Clayworth
