Long Beach : Council Eases Smoking Ban in New Ordinance
The Long Beach City Council officially retreated from its tough anti-smoking stance this week, approving an ordinance that permits some smoking in restaurants and workplaces.
If adopted on second reading next week, the measure would replace a stricter ordinance approved by the council last spring but then suspended after about 30,000 Long Beach residents signed a petition objecting to the new smoking limits.
The latest ordinance requires restaurants to set aside two-thirds of their seating area for nonsmoking, outlaws all smoking in city buildings and restricts smoking in workplaces to enclosed areas with separate ventilation systems or the smoking sections of company cafeterias and lunch rooms.
The earlier law, which will be repealed, outlawed all smoking at work sites and banned all restaurant smoking as of Jan. 1, 1994.
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