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By Harry Minium
The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK
Thanks to a large assist from Virginia Beach, Norfolk is poised to become the first city in Virginia to ban smoking in restaurants, Norfolk officials said.
The City Council is scheduled to vote on an ordinance tonight banning smoking in all restaurants, and if it does so, a majority of council members say, they will vote in favor.
Whether that ordinance will come to a vote depends on the recommendation of City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko, who said on Monday he isn't sure whether he will recommend delaying a vote.
However, Mayor Paul Fraim said, "I think we're going to vote on it. There's nothing that would stop us."
Norfolk officials say the city charter gives them the right to ban smoking. Virginia Beach, a much younger city with a more restrictive charter, does not have the right, city officials said.
Both councils also are scheduled to vote tonight to ask the General Assembly to allow the Beach to ban smoking. Alexandria and Arlington County have considered smoking bans.
"Tuesday night is going to be a great one for regional cooperation," Councilman Barclay C. Winn said. "It will be difficult for the General Assembly to ignore" the two largest cities in the state.
If the Norfolk council votes to ban smoking, it would be a remarkable turnaround. Three weeks ago, when the council discussed a proposed ban, a majority was opposed.
Councilwoman Theresa Whibley, who pushed Norfolk to consider the ban, said she expected to lose on a 5-3 vote.
However, Winn then began contacting his counterparts at the Beach, including Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson, who expressed an interest in cooperating with Norfolk. Both the Virginia Beach Restaurant Association and Virginia Beach Hotel-Motel Association support a ban, and the City Council informally agreed to Wilson's request to ask the state for permission to ban smoking.
The two cities have been working jointly on the wording for the resolutions, which are expected to pass tonight unanimously.
Winn and Councilmen Don Williams and W. Randy Wright said they are all now in favor of a smoking ban.
"Getting the Beach on board sells the deal," Winn said. "It makes me comfortable with our smoking ban."
He said he also received a lot of calls from residents supporting the ban.
Winn said he hopes any ban will be delayed for three or four months "to give restaurants time to adjust to the new law."
The resolution to be considered by Beach officials said "that the city's delegation to the General Assembly is hereby requested to work with the City of Norfolk's delegation to the General Assembly to sponsor and/or support legislation that either would prohibit smoking in restaurants statewide or that would authorize both cities to prohibit smoking in restaurants through adoption of local ordinances."
Norfolk's Williams, who was opposed to a ban three weeks ago, said a trip to the doctor changed his mind. After viewing an X-ray of his own lungs, Williams was then shown the X-ray of a smoker's lungs.
"It wasn't pretty," he said. "We need to do this for the health of our citizens. And it's a great day when Norfolk and Virginia Beach do something together."
Staff writer Richard Quinn contributed to this report.
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Hvae you lost your minds?
Why would anyone of you want to give one more control to our government. Don't you think we have lost enough freedoms? This is a true issue. It is not about smoking or non-smoking. It is about our right to choose. Our freedoms to do so. I can't even believe that anyone could not see the true issue here. The comments i've read that are in favor of the ban, why are your rights anymore important than mine. You have a choice not to go into a smoking establishement as much as a smoker has the right to not enter a non-smoking establishment, so get over yourselves when your only focus is what it will do for me. Think about what it is doing to our freedom as a whole. That is what is at jeopardy here. And it goes to the very heart of it.
Whats next?
I have never smoked in my life! It is noone elses problem but mine, next we will have someone controling every phase of our life! Virginia might not have become a state without tobacco! I don't want to eat with anyone who is different from me, so ban them NOW!!
Is VA excempt to The Bill of Rights
Taxing people out of their homes, controlling privet owned establishments, fines for profanity on Gods green earth...Every right taken away is another step towards communism. There may be good points on both sides of the smoking-ban but it all boils down to our natural freedoms being stolen. There are such things as well ventilated "smoking sections" in bars and restaurants. People should compromise as its the only way for peace among us all. The government doesn't believe in compromise, they believe in control and were letting them slowly gain that control with every ridiculous law we let them pass. If we do not stand up for our rights, freedom will be lost to a greedy control based government.
This is where it begins....
It starts slowly. Our governments start taking the small liberties and freedoms from us. The change is slow and almost unnoticeable. Then more and more freedoms are taken from us. Most of you anti-smoking zealots fail to see these are private businesses (I am not a smoker). In this case, the government has no right to tell a privately owned business what it can do. As a Libertarian, this form of activity truly frightens and concerns me about what this country will be like when my son is an adult. "All Governments, including the worst on earth and the most tyrannical on earth, are free Governments to that portion of the people who voluntarily support them." - Lysander Spooner Unfortunately, there are a lot of volunteers!
Government making decisions for us?
We all have the right to make our own decisions, even if that decision will harm ourselves. This also applies to people who don't want to harm themselves. If a restaurant owner decides to allow smoking, the non smokers should decide not to go to that restaurant. If all restaurants allow smoking, well then, that means there's a bigger market for smokers than non smokers. There seems that there is obviously a market for non smoking restaurants, so why not some of you "go getter" entrepreneurs start one up. Keep the government out of our business and let the free market decide. Don't forget, Norfolk, soon the smokers will be funding your child's health care with higher taxes, you should thank them and allow them to smoke anywhere they please.
Hysterical!
Some of you are getting just a tad hysterical over this. Smoking bans in restaurants have proven to be a good thing both here and overseas. As I have pointed out before, we don't have a problem with govt intervention when it comes to exposing workers to such things as asbestos and coal dust...why is it ok for restaurants to expose its workers to the proven carcinogens in second hand smoke? Smokers have the right to smoke...but, as with any other dangerous substance, they don't have the right to expose others.
Dillon Rule of Law
No county, town or city in Virginia can have a law that is different from the State. Virginia has relied on the Dillon law for over two hundred years.
The General Assembly is not about to reliquish their power, now or ever.
OSHA has never issued regulations against second hand smoke because the level of exposure is 25,000 times under their permissable levels of exposure. Second hand smoke is as harmful as cooking and cleaning products.
Get over the hysteria and get the facts, not the fiction that the media keeps repeating over and over again.
No State or City control
I' m a non smoker and I think its ridiculous for restaurants to abide by state or city control of this issue. Where would these fanatic non smokers like people to smoke?? As far as I can see its still a choice if you want to smoke and its also a choice where you want to dine.
Ok
Now that we got this ban taken care of, it's time for the next one. Smoking takes an average of 10 years off the lifespan of a smoker; obesity takes an average of 13 years off the lifespan of a fat person. Obesity is skyrocketing; health care costs and related social costs and impacts for obesity are skyrocketing as well and will soon dwarf all other health costs combined. Anybody for meal tickets, portion control, and the banning of all desserts? I'm a non-smoker and I'm smart enough to avoid places where smoking is allowed...it appears some sophomoric whining non-smokers are not yet that mature. BTW, there has not been one proven case of disease or death from inhaling second-hand smoke. Source? WHO, CDC, Stanford, Harvard, JHU...
They can't answer this question
If a smoking ban actually increases business to a restaurant, then why must Norfolk join with VB? The point of the story is that the two cities wish to join forces on this issue to curtail the loss of smoking customers. But many here assert that that loss will be more than made up by increases in non-smoking customers. It is obvious that neither city believes that or they wouldn't care if the other one joined or not. Unfortunately, the big government anti-smoking-freedom types won't understand this simple concept and keep spouting off about how great business will be for restaurants once the ban is in place.