JOEL BANNER BAIRD

Increased health risks posed by second-hand smoke in Burlington's Church Street Marketplace prompted City Council to advance a 24-hour smoking ban on the downtown pedestrian throughway.

A 13-1 vote delivered the proposed ban to the Ordinance Committee, which will consider revisions before returning it to the council for another reading, and a vote.

Councilor Max Tracy, P-Ward 2, cast the only dissenting vote.

As currently written, the ban would prohibit smoking on Church Street between Pearl and Main streets. It includes outdoor seating on the marketplace, but exempts private property.

The ordinance would impose a $50 fine for the first offense; $100 for subsequent offenses.

The restriction is a revived effort by the city, which narrowly passed a more sweeping ban in early 2012 — only to be stubbed out with a veto by former Mayor Bob Kiss.

The earlier ordinance would have prohibited smoking east and west of Church Street, from South Winooski Avenue to Pine Street; and extended the no-smoke zone south to King Street.

The 2012 proposal also exempted outdoor cafes and restaurants on Church Street from the ban — drawing criticism from those who termed it a "pay-to-play" provision, aimed chiefly at ridding the marketplace of people of limited means.

"We can't legislate an adult's desire to smoke, but we can protect the rights of others who don't," Councilor Karen Paul, D-Ward 6, said during her introduction of the new proposed ordinance.

City Councilor David Hartnett, D-Ward 4 — an opponent of the 2012 proposal, is a co-sponsor this year.

The reason: "This time it's in a closely defined space. It's not all downtown," Hartnett said. "Someone who needs to take a cigarette break now can just walk around the corner and have a cigarette. It will be self-policing.

"We don't allow smoking in restaurants, and Church Street is one big outdoor restaurant," Hartnett added.

Supporters for the ban dominated the public comment section of Monday's meeting.

But Bob Conlon, owner of Leunig's Bistro, said foul language and begging on Church Street irritated his customers "much more than the occasional whiff of tobacco" from a neighbor.

"We can all deal with a little discomfort," Conlon said.

The possibility of financial discomfort gave Councilor Jane Knodell, P-Ward 2, pause — and she asked that greater care be taken to assess the impact of the ban on city tax receipts.

Greg Roy, a city resident, told the council that smokers drove the demand for outside seating at restaurants and cafes — and should not be displaced by non-smokers who have belatedly come to appreciate the ambiance.

Councilor Kurt Wright, R-Ward 4, who voted nay in the 2012 proposal, joined the majority vote to send the current version to the Ordinance Committee — but said "a vigorous process" would be required before it would meet his full approval.

Wright and other councilors asked that the committee investigate potential problems with shifting of smoking groups to side streets, with enforcement and with perceptions that the ordinance targets poorer populations.

The current proposal is on the council's agenda in part due to a request by the Church Street Marketplace District Commission, which voted unanimously in support of the ban at its May 21 meeting.

Supporting documents from the commission cite local surveys showing a sharp decrease in tolerance for public smoking since 2010.

Jeff Nick, the commission's director, told the council Monday that two years ago, he found concerns over downtown smoking "overblown."

Now, he considers the ban as essential to Burlington's "healthy brand," and instrumental to keeping the Queen City "clean, safe and fun."

See the commission's announcement

Earlier in May, Vermont Commissioner of Health Harry Chen wrote in a note to City Council that he supported the ban.

In concert with the U.S. Surgeon General, Chen warned that health risks posed to non-smokers (such as heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory problems in children) are well documented.

Chen extended his concern to include what he called "health equity."

"Restaurant staff who work in outdoor patios during the spring and summer are routinely exposed to secondhand smoke while on the job," Chen wrote.

The Burlington Partnership for a Healthy Community also favors the ban.

In a May 14 letter of support to the commission, the coalition's director, Mariah Sanderson, wrote that stronger anti-smoking policies would protect the city's most vulnerable populations from a proven health risk, and similar bans "have been proven to be an effective way to prevent children from starting to smoke and encourage smokers to quit."

Smokers have expressed reservations.

Puffing away in tandem Monday morning on Church Street, Burlington residents Lisa Meacham, 45, and her son, Justin Cousino, 20, paused to register their disapproval.

"They should absolutely not ban smoking," said Meacham, a consumer of cigarettes for 30 years and free, she added, of any effects to her health. "This is free air."

A ban against smoking beneath the marketplace's awnings might work, Meacham allowed, as would a voluntary curb on smoking near young children.

Targeting smokers at the expense of other polluters isn't fair, she added: "What about all those companies that are putting smoke in the air? What about those trucks? You're already breathing stuff that's out there."

Her son stubbed out his butt underfoot. Restaurants, he said, might reasonably ban smoking.

"I can see that," Cousino said. "But all along Church Street? It would have more negative than positive outlooks."

Further north on Church Street, Dave Stoll, owner of Boo-Kies food cart on the Church Street Marketplace, took a break from a cigarette break. "To be honest, I've been trying to quit for the past few weeks," he said.

Stoll pulled out an e-cigarette, one that he said only exhausted water vapor and essence of blueberries.

"If the ordinance passes, Stoll said, "it'll give me no choice but to use this thing."

One of his customers, Kayleigh Buffum, 20, said she, too, was adjusting well to battery-powered nicotine delivery systems.

Like Stoll, Buffum sees e-cigarettes as a path to quitting altogether.

An added bonus: "These are much, much cheaper than tobacco."

Contact Joel Banner Baird at 660-1843 or joelbaird@burlingtonfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/vtgoingup.