LAGUNA HILLS : Council Puts Off Smoking Ordinance

The City Council has postponed until Feb. 28 further discussion of whether to make the city’s smoking ordinance tougher than the new state law, which bans smoking in most workplaces.

Councilman R. Craig Scott has suggested that, by banning smoking in all Laguna Hills bars, the council impose tougher restrictions on smoking than those contained in the state law.

The city is also considering an alternative proposal to require restaurant owners to separately enclose and ventilate their bar areas so that cigarette smoke doesn’t drift into dining areas.

Neither idea has met with much enthusiasm from other council members or local restaurant owners.

The council originally had scheduled the discussion for the Feb. 14 meeting. However, over Scott’s objection, the board decided to delay the discussion another two weeks.

City Manager Bruce Channing encouraged the postponement, saying his staff needed more time to study how much money it would cost restaurateurs to meet a “separately enclosed and separately ventilated” standard.

Also, a restaurant representative had called City Hall complaining that resolving the matter on Valentine’s Day, one of the busiest nights for restaurants, would prevent restaurant owners from participating in the discussion.