Parts of Decatur, Ala., smoking ban may be lifted

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DECATUR  Ala.  ( Oct. 13, 2009 ) In an unexpected turn, the Decatur City Council discussed Monday lifting portions of the city's controversial ban on smoking in public places.

Council President Greg Reeves says the governing body will consider the change during its next meeting at 10 a.m. Monday.

Proposed by District 3 Councilman Gary Hammon, the amendments would lift the ban on smoking for bars and restaurants and remove a rule that hotels cannot designate more than 25 percent of their rooms as smoking rooms.

It would require businesses that allow smoking to post signs saying so that are visible from the road.

Hammon says the changes, if approved, will bring Decatur's smoking ordinance in line with those of Huntsville, Madison and Florence, which allow smoking in some circumstances. "I am content with it like it is, but when I saw Florence just passed one and they did not even look at Decatur's -- they went straight to the Huntsville-Madison law -- I thought, well, everybody around us has the same ordinance except us, and it has hurt businesses in Decatur," he said.

He added that he expects most Decatur businesses that do not allow smoking under the current ordinance will maintain the status quo. But he said the amendments would allow business owners to choose.

"Anybody who goes smoking, they're going to lose business from their non-smoking customers," he said. "Let the people vote with their wallets."

Council reaction to the proposal was mixed.

Reeves said he was content to leave the ordinance the way it is, but he added, "I think philosophically I would support the business owner's right to choose."

District 2 Councilman Roger Anders said he, too, has no problem with the current ordinance, but he said he is willing to consider anything that will help small-business owners in Decatur. District 4 Councilman Ronny Russell, who proposed the city's current smoking ban last term, opposed the changes, saying it would erase the "incredibly progressive" move the city made last term.

"There's no reason to do this. What we have is working, and it's worked well," he said. "There is no reason to go backward, and I truly don't understand why Mr. Hammon is making this proposal."

District 1 Councilman Billy Jackson declined to comment. Decatur's current smoking ordinance has been in effect since October 2007. It bans smoking in all public places.

The previous council approved the current ordinance in a 3-2 vote. Hammon was among the dissenting votes in that decision. Hammon's proposed amendments were not part of the council's regular agenda since he did not request their inclusion until after the deadline Friday.

Because of that, City Attorney Herman Marks said the amendments will require the council to vote unanimously for immediate consideration if they hope to vote on them Monday.

© The Decatur Daily, Ala.; distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, 2009