Smoking ordinance proposal
creates controversy in Hutchinson
By Megan Becker
Staff Writer

Smoking in Hutchinson restaurants might soon be a thing of the past.

Recently, the Reno County Tobacco Use Prevention Coalition brought an ordinance to the Hutchinson City Council that proposed a smoking ban in restaurants in the city of Hutchinson. 

The ordinance proposed, as drawn up by the city attorney, would do the following: all restaurants that have food sales that exceed 50 percent, starting January 1, 2005, will no longer be allowed to have a smoking section in their establishments unless the smoking section is a room that is enclosed completely from the rest of the restaurant and has ventilation. 

The smoking ban proposed has caused much controversy in Hutchinson and at Hutchinson Community College. Many feel that the ordinance completely ignores personal freedoms.

 “I don’t think that it’s fair to say ‘I don’t smoke so you can’t smoke either,’” Emilee Bynum, Ottawa, said.

 Others believe that this ordinance is a big step in the right direction towards a secondhand-smoke-free society.

 “I would support it because I don’t like smoke, and even if there’s people in a smoking area it always seems to ruin your meal anyway,” Lesley Blackburn, Hutchinson, said.

Many of the business owners that Hutchinson Mayor Barry Law talked with also supported the ordinance.

“The majority of the business owners that I’ve talked to said that they were in favor of it but don’t want to publicly come out and say it because they don’t want to offend their customers,” he said.

Much of the speculation as to how the specifics of the ordinance were decided has been placed in the hands of the Hutchinson City Council, however the city attorney  felt that what he decided upon was the best alternative proposal to what the Reno County Tobacco Use Prevention Coalition could have give the council.

Law explained that the Coalition could have come up with a petition that included signatures of 25 percent of Hutchinson voters in the last primary.

The Coalition, after completing their petition, could have put into place any ban on smoking, anywhere they wanted to. For example, it could have been decided that any public place shall ban smoking.  However, instead of doing this the Coalition gave the proposal to the city council to work with.

“It’s hard for me to tell business owners what they can and can’t do with their property,” Law said.

He believes that the decision as to whether smoking should be allowed in an establishment should be up to the owner of the business.

“I’ve said several times that less government is better government,” Law said. 

He is also very optimistic and believes that if the people of Hutchinson are truly concerned they will act and draw up a petition, which will allow the ordinance to go to a vote in the next election.

The ordinance passed four to one at a recent city council meeting, and unless 25 percent of the voters in the last primary come up with a petition against the ordinance, the new policy will go into effect as planned.

Once the ordinance is in place, any business owner found not in compliance will be fined up to $500.