Fort Collins smoking ban could extend outdoors

Lighting up a cigarette in public might soon become even less welcome in Fort Collins.
City officials are considering expanding no-smoking rules to include outdoor dining areas and bar patios.
Smoking also would be prohibited within 20 feet of an outdoor dining area under the proposed regulation, and banned at Transfort bus benches and other transit facilities, such as MAX stations.
During a recent City Council work session on the proposal, most council members said they support applying the smoking ban to outdoor eating areas. They also would consider regulating electronic cigarettes and banning smoking in parks, on trails and in heavily used pedestrian areas such as Old Town Square.
Mayor pro tem Gerry Horak said many people don’t want to be around cigarette smoke, even in an outdoor setting.
“I think the society has changed,” he said. “The society here in town is ready for it.”
Current regulations ban smoking in public buildings, places of employment and businesses that are used by the public, including bars and restaurants.
The city has had restrictions on smoking since 1984, when voters approved a smoking ordinance. The smoking ban inside restaurants and bars has been in effect since 2003.
The city ordinance prohibits smoking within 20 feet of all building entrances, including those off patios, but does not specifically prohibit smoking in outdoor areas.
The law has resulted in some businesses permitting customers to smoke on their patios and outdoor dining areas outside of the 20-foot limit, said Beth Sowder, neighborhood services manager.
“You have places that allow smoking on part of their patios,” she said. “The issue comes up that if it’s OK to smoke at one table, why can’t everyone else?” Sowder said. “Enforcement has become kind of confusing.”
The proposed changes also were spurred by complaints from residents about smoking in or adjacent to outdoor dining areas, she said.
The Larimer County Department of Health and Environment supports expanded smoking restrictions as part of a grant-funded tobacco cessation program. Health officials say secondhand smoke poses a health risk to nonsmokers, even in outdoor areas.