Starting Tuesday, L.A. Says No Smoking Near Outdoor Dining
Eric Richardson / blogdowntown
A sign prohibiting smoking in outdoor dining areas hangs on the front door of ESPN Zone L.A. Live. Such signs are required to be posted on every restaurant in the city by March 8.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Life will get a little bit tougher for those who smoke next Tuesday as the city's new ordinance prohibiting smoking near outdoor eating areas goes into effect. The new rules make it an infraction to light up inside or within ten feet of a restaurant's outdoor dining area or within 40 feet of food trucks and kiosks without a defined seating area.
The new rules do not apply to bars or nightclubs, nor do they cover someone who enters the restricted radius while "briefly passing by."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilmember Tom LaBonge joined Dr. Jonathan Fielding of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health at ESPN Zone L.A. Live on Thursday morning to unveil the marketing campaign being launched to promote the new rules. The ads in the Fresh Air Dining LA campaign promote "a side of fresh air" as making burgers, coffee and salads better.
All restaurants and food trucks operating in the city are required to post signage advising diners of the new rules. The signs—which can be downloaded from the program's website—must be visible to diners and passersby.
Along with information about the new restrictions, the signs feature a high-tech touch: QR codes that can be scanned with a smartphone and will take viewers to the campaign website.
The new rules are just the latest in a series of prohibitions aimed at reducing exposure to second-hand smoke. The city outlawed smoking at beaches in 2004, smoking at parks in 2007 and smoking at farmers markets in 2008.
Robert A on March 03, 2011, at 07:38PM – #1
Awesome. Now let's put cafes all along 5th Street from Main St going west. I am so tired of breathing in the smoke from all of the residents of skid row. I still don't understand how so many of them are chain smokers...who pays for their cigarettes? It is a very expensive habit and I have a feeling we are paying the bill....as well as their costly health care!
Dixon on March 03, 2011, at 08:47PM – #2
This is great news for the great majority of us who don't smoke and don't want to breathe in second-hand smoke from others who are dumb enough to have the habit.
Here's what will happen, though. Smokers will congregate just outside of the forbidden zones, creating pockets of smoke-filled hell.
I plan to carry a tape measure with me and I'll use it to help enforce the law.
BTW, Robert, many of the skid row smokers use their panhandling money to buy cigarettes, often at a discount at 5th and Broadway. Others walk around and pick up the stubs of cigarettes discarded by others. Disgusting!
DenOfLosAngeles on March 04, 2011, at 07:13AM – #3
For those who like outdoor dining that is great news. Who can stand smelling stinky smoke while dining. I can't. Now lets work on prohibiting smoking everywhere except inside the smokers car and home.
Brian Blackwell on March 04, 2011, at 01:00PM – #4
Wonderful news! Now I can eat at LA Cafe again.
Robert Bewernick on March 04, 2011, at 02:41PM – #5
Who knew people hated smoking so much. Let's hope this doesn't give downtown residents the right to yell at other non residents. From the previous comment it sounds like that's exactly what they want.
That'd be really bad for business.
Dixon on March 04, 2011, at 02:54PM – #6
"Who knew people hated smoking so much."
Wake up, Rob.
Smokers, when they're smoking and subjecting non-smokers to second-hand smoke, are hated. You should try having allergies flare up because of smoke and you'd understand. Yeah, that does give me the right to yell now that it's ILLEGAL and just wrong.
That'd be really bad for business? Get real. Business will prosper now that smokers are shuttled off to the streets and back alleys where they belong. We smokers can finally enjoy outdoor seating.
Isn't it time for someone to toss in the idiotic argument that cars should be banned too because of the exhaust? Duh.
Dixon on March 04, 2011, at 02:56PM – #7
Correction: We NON smokers can finally enjoy outdoor seating.
Robert Bewernick on March 04, 2011, at 03:27PM – #8
The smell of cigarette smoke makes me a bit nostalgic of large cities. Whether I go to Barcelona, Hong Kong or Jakarta, I know I can always get a nice whiff of smoke. Plus, cigarettes have a nicer scent compared with to urine I smell when I walk outside in the morning.
I completely empathize with your allergy issues. I would feel the same way if the smoke filled my lungs with snot.
Simon Hartigan on March 05, 2011, at 03:54PM – #9
This is great news. Smoking is the business of those smoking and the ones around them. It's not at all like other things one can consume that immediately only effect the person consuming the product.
Simon Ha on March 06, 2011, at 03:30PM – #10
Where are the Tea-baggers fighting for individual liberty and freedom?
I'd figure they'd be up in arms protecting tobacco smoking Americans from socialists telling them they can no longer exercise their constitutional right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
This slippery slope will lead to somebody telling my kid she should eat more fruits and vegetables. With all the good diet and exercise, people would live longer, further adding to the national debt caused by social security, pension, and medicare...
Smoking and obesity kills and may lead to solving our debt problems... hmmm, I say let people be! If you can stand a whiff of dog urine while sidewalk dining, the aroma of tobacco should smell like incense.
BTW, I'm a non-smoker, well... 99.9% of the time.
Dixon on March 06, 2011, at 04:29PM – #11
"I'm a non-smoker, well... 99.9% of the time."
.....and for that .1% of the time when you are a smoker, Simon, you can take it to the alley or street where you belong.
Throwing second-hand smoke around is hardly "letting people be," fool.
Miadog on March 06, 2011, at 05:35PM – #12
All of you non-smokers with the attitude need to seriously get a life…"back to the alleys where you belong..." wow, unbelievable, trust me the cafes up and down spring street will not all of the sudden be filled with happy non-smokers who have been hiding in their lofts because of the horrible leper smokers... someone's living in fantasy land or at least smoking something a lot strong then cigarettes.
Dixon on March 06, 2011, at 05:55PM – #13
Wake up, Miadog. Surveys have shown that business actually increases once a smoking ban takes place. Do your research and find out for yourself. The old argument that business will suffer is bullshit.
You're just a sore loser because you can't poison the outdoor seating areas anymore. Well, get over it, loser. It's the law now. You can take your sorry ass over to the gutter or back up the alley. No one will miss you and your stupid habit.
Hey check this out: I'm one happy non-smoker who will be sitting in your old outdoor seat, fool.
BTW, do you have good health insurance? Smoking-related health expenses cost a bundle!
Miadog on March 06, 2011, at 06:07PM – #14
love you too coda. And guess what, I don't smoke:)
Robert Bewernick on March 07, 2011, at 12:31PM – #15
Coda, do you have good health insurance? It sounds like you might have high blood pressure.
Jamie DeFrisco on March 07, 2011, at 12:37PM – #16
I don't smoke. However I do feel for those who do smoke. To me the problem isn't the smoke, but the smokers out there who act oblivious to those around them. It's very irritating when someone sits down at a table next to you and continues to light up cigarette after cigarette while the wind blows the smoke in your face. When a person has the common decency to make sure the smoke isn't bothering those around them, then it makes all the difference. If it's not bothering anyone then I don't have a problem with it.
As a non-smoker this law isn't going to make me want to eat any place more than I would have wanted to before.
BTW the smell of car exhaust isn't that much better than cigarette smoke.
Robert A on March 07, 2011, at 01:49PM – #17
Miadog...if you want to see the effects of smoking, come visit my Dad who smoked for 45 years and is now confined to a wheel chair with 24/7 care following a massive stroke. I deplore this nasty habit and don't want to breathe someone else's smoke. Get real...and quit adding to the nation's health care woes.
Dixon on March 07, 2011, at 09:52PM – #18
"BTW the smell of car exhaust isn't that much better than cigarette smoke."
Jamie DeFrisco, read the last sentence in comment #6.
The issue isn't with the quality of smell. It's a health issue. Read comment #17 for help with understanding that.
Jim Winstead on March 07, 2011, at 11:09PM – #19
it is interesting that pete's cafe (at 4th and main) has decided the way around this new law is to declare their patio an exclusively 18-and-older area. that seems like a very large loophole. (and inconsistent with my reading of the relevant municipal code, but i'm certainly not a lawyer. or maybe i've just overlooked the signage that says that the whole restaurant is now 18 and over.)
SeanYodaRouse on March 08, 2011, at 10:57PM – #20
Here's the ordinance's definition of "bar":
"Bar" shall mean an indoor area utilized primarily for the serving of alcoholic beverages and in which the service of food is only incidental to the consumption of such beverages.
And here's the exception (that I guess Pete's as using as a loophole):
However, an outdoor dining area shall not include an area that is contiguous to ... A bar, or a nightclub that requires that its patrons be eighteen or older.
Jamie DeFrisco on March 09, 2011, at 10:46AM – #21
Coda - There are things that we do and are exposed to everyday that shorten our lives. We all will die some day. Some people like doing things that will inevitably cut our lives short. Who are you to tell others how to live their lives? As long as it does not hurt anyone, then people should be allowed to do what they want. There's the caveat. Second hand smoke is just as dangerous, if not worst. If the people around them don't mind then why should they not be allowed to do it.
Car exhaust does cause medical issues. People are also allergic to dogs, but you see more and more businesses downtown being more 'pet' friendly.
Dixon on March 09, 2011, at 12:37PM – #22
"Who are you to tell others how to live their lives?"
Jaime, I don't think you understand.
L.A. now has a law banning smoking in all outdoor seating areas. I support the new law. I'm not telling others how to live their lives, except when they are smoking in non-smoking areas. That's my legal right.
You can smoke, Jaime. Go ahead and smoke until you drop. I don't care unless you are in an area where smoking is legally banned. Then I'll make loud noise until you either leave or stop.
At least you understand that second hand smoke is dangerous. Now try to relate that epiphany to the new law.