Agenda - 05-07-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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8 1 Council Member Jim Ward asked about the area of Chapel Hill in Durham County. 2 Colleen Bridger said Durham County enforces this area because it has a similar policy. 3 Council Member Sally Greene asked about enforcement and fines and how this is 4 managed in different scenarios. 5 Colleen Bridger said that she imagines, 99% of the time, if an officer sees someone on 6 the sidewalk smoking, the person will be asked to put out the cigarette; the cigarette will be put 7 out and the officer will move on. She said there may be some scenarios, especially where 8 alcohol is involved, where the person is belligerent. In these cases it will be the discretion of the 9 officer in delivering citations. She said that in scenarios where there is outdoor eating, such as 10 in Hillsborough, where the sidewalks are owned by the town; it is the restaurant owner's 11 responsibility to inform people that they cannot smoke at those tables. 12 Council Member Matt Czajkowski asked what instructions law enforcement are being 13 given for addressing this issue with residents. He said that requiring an officer to apply the type 14 of discretion being discussed is not police procedure. He said his request is to have the police 15 chief to come to explain the instruction officers are being given and how much burden this 16 places on them. 17 Mayor Kleinschmidt said he also feels this would be helpful and he feels that most of the 18 time officers will just ignore the smoking. 19 Council Member Lee Starrow said this brings to mind the seatbelt ordinance. He said 20 he would hope that the law enforcement doesn't spend the bulk of their time only enforcing 21 seatbelt ordinances. He said is easy to get stuck in the small details, but overall this is about 22 public education and setting cultural norms. 23 Mayor Kleinschmidt said he is most concerned about the calls to the police, because 24 these calls will require follow up. 25 Council Member Matt Czajkowski said this same discussion occurred regarding cell 26 phones. He said a law is passed with an enforcement mechanism, with the presumption that 27 the police will ignore it. He questioned the legal structure of this and he said the police need to 28 be informed and able to enforce it. He said if it is about education then there should be an 29 educational program, not the creation of a criminal offense. 30 Council Member Lee Starrow asked if the seat belt law should also be done away with. 31 Mayor Kleinschmidt said that is a state law and he agreed with Council Member Matt 32 Czajkowski. 33 Commissioner Price said she feels the market will take care of the issue in restaurants, 34 but she is concerned about law enforcement. She questioned what the recourse will be if 35 smokers are driven off the sidewalks and then just move into the streets where the cars are. 36 Colleen Bridger said smoking in the streets obviously cannot be banned. She is hopeful 37 this will not be the case for the majority of people. She said this does move second hand 38 smoke away from the public areas. 39 Commissioner Pelissier noted that Durham County implemented a very similar rule 40 about a year ago. She asked about their outcome, and if there have been problems as it 41 relates to law enforcement. 42 Colleen Bridger said she has not heard about that in any discussions with Durham about 43 the challenges. She said Durham County had the same questions about jurisdictional authority 44 and decided that the BOH had the authority to pass the rule and it does apply to the City of 45 Durham. She said the effort is an attempt to change the culture, and overnight results are not 46 expected, nor are heavy handed enforcements. The focus should be on education and 47 empowerment. 48 Mayor Kleinschmidt suggested wrapping this up and said he would ask for follow up with 49 the police and sheriff.