Smoking ban bill rises from ashes of past tries

Unfazed by five years of failed attempts, the Philadelphia City Council is still trying to stop smoking.

New legislation sponsored by Councilwoman Marian Tasco aims to ban smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants.

The bill was introduced in the council's weekly meeting last Thursday and could be up for a vote within two weeks, according to Tasco spokeswoman Melody Wright.

"We're waiting to get a feel for what people are going to do," Wright said.

The bill currently has seven co-sponsors. It would need one more of the 17 council members' support to move on to Mayor John Street's desk.

The legislation follows a bill introduced by Councilman Michael Nutter a year ago, which targeted smoking in bars and restaurants. After undergoing revisions and amendments, the bill ultimately failed to gain enough support in council to pass.

Nutter had proposed anti-smoking legislation as early as 2000, when he introduced a bill that would have required restaurants to have fully separate smoking and non-smoking areas or to prohibit smoking entirely.

Nutter supports the current bill and is "grateful to [Tasco] for stepping into the issue in a more decisive way."

Many have attributed the failure of Nutter's bill to sniping between the councilman and the mayor.

Wright, however, said that the proposal failed to pass due to "amendments that a number of people in city politics thought watered down the bill's effectiveness."

Nutter's bill originally proposed a ban on smoking in all public places, but he later amended it to allow certain private clubs and bars to apply for a waiver.

And the recent passage of a similar bill in New Jersey may improve the odds for a smoking ban in bars and restaurants in Philadelphia.

"There's no longer the idea that people are going to flee across the Delaware to smoke," Nutter spokeswoman Julia Chapman said.

Smoking bans have been recently enacted in Chicago and Washington, following a trend that began with a ban in New York in July 2003.

Though there has been some opposition, most bars and restaurants do not have serious issues with a smoking ban.

Joni Popowcer, a hostess at the Center City bistro Friday Saturday Sunday, said that she would personally "love there to be a smoking ban" and believed the eatery's owner would also be likely to support it.

Friday Saturday Sunday currently has a no-smoking policy until 9:30 p.m., and it is not expecting a decrease in patronage if the bill passes.

Tracy Stanton, owner of Northern Liberties bar 700 Club, said he would also welcome the ban, though he added it "will be hard [to enforce] when we're packed."

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