St. Charles City Council Agrees to Move Ahead with Smoking Ban—With Exemptions

Members of the St. Charles City Council agreed Tuesday night to move forward with an ordinance to ban smoking in the city.

But the notable part of the ordinance may be in its exemptions.

Board President Laurie Feldman opened the discussion by asking the council members if they even wanted to proceed with the "Smoke Free Air Act."

"I don't like legislating people's choices, but I will not have someone else telling us how we're supposed to do it," she said, referencing the possibility of St. Charles County enacting its own version of a smoking ban.

Mayor Sally Faith emphasized the need for exemptions, particularly with the much-needed revenues from Ameristar Casino.

Among the exemptions considered are:

• Casino areas
• Any location that restricts access to anyone under the age of 21
• Locations that have a separate, enclosed, ventilated smoking area
• Private clubs
• Smoking-designated rooms in hotels and motels
• Cigar bars
• Retail tobacco stores that prohibit entry by anyone under the age of 18
• Commercial vehicles occupied solely by the operator
• Indoor sports arenas with a separete, enclosed and ventilated smoking area
• Private homes and motor vehicles unless used for day care/child care
• Non-enclosed public places (patios, porches, decks) as long as smoke can't get into prohibited areas.
• Bowling alleys
• Places that serve alcohol but do not serve food

Dave Beckering, Ward 7 Councilman, said that he would support every one of the exemptions that staff put out for discussion. "How can you go into a VFW hall, private property, and tell them they can't smoke in their own building?" he said.

Ward 6 Councilman Jerry Reese mentioned a local restaurant where "the food's fantastic, but after four you're going to come out smelling like a pack of cigarettes." He said he didn't like the idea, however, of having to tell someone who had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars that they would have to build a separate enclosed smoking area.

Mike Spurgeon, the city's director of administration, said that, with the council's approval, they would look at a Jan. 1, 2014 effective date and a possible November 2015 date to make the ban a charter amendment.

Reese said that he hoped that staff would set up town hall meetings in locations other than just city hall, and he suggested St. Charles West or Memorial Hall.

Feldman asked that times for the meetings be varied, also. "Not everyone works a nine-to-five," she said. She also asked for a chart that would illustrate the revenues the city could lose if exemptions were not in place.

"People don’t know how much impact there is to that revenue," she said.

Spurgeon said that the city would plan for three town hall meetings about the Smoke Free Air Act before Memorial Day.