GARLAND — Admitting the city's law is behind the times as smokers and non-smokers dine side-by-side in a handful of restaurants, the Garland City Council is taking steps to make it more difficult to puff in public.

And that possibility has Garland smokers, who have endured a generation of sin taxes and "for their own good" ordinances, bracing for what government has in store for them this time.

"I just don't get why we're discriminated against," Mark Ulrich, a smoker and 24-year resident, told the council at its meeting Tuesday night. "We're the only class of people that it's OK to point a finger at and say 'you're evil.'"

Existing businesses were grandfathered when Garland last revised its smoking ordinance in 2006. If a business that served food allowed smoking before the law changed, it can continue to do so — without designating a smoking area.

"It is woefully out of date," said council member Rich Aubin, a member of the Community Services Committee, which asked staff to survey smoking laws in other cities. "One of the things that the committee does and the council does is we look at where we are in comparison to our peer cities. Are we keeping up? And I think it's a responsible thing to do because times change."

There are still no restrictions on smoking in about a dozen Garland restaurants and private clubs that were grandfathered. Smoking areas in many other eateries were designed with the layout of the business in mind, not necessarily the consumer, patrons have said.

Bryan Price smokes at the bar at Ebeneezer's Pub and Grill on Northwest Highway in Garland. City officials are debating a proposed law that would eliminate smoking in all public places, and an amended version that exempts private clubs like Ebeneezer's. (Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)

Garland's smoking law is "outside the norm," city health director Jason Chessher told the council during a Feb. 6 presentation on the proposed change. "Virtually every other city that we surveyed had very similar ordinances that prohibited smoking in enclosed public places."

The February proposal was that smoking be prohibited in all public places, within 50 feet of playgrounds or recreation areas and within 25 feet of an entrance to an enclosed area.

Representatives of the American Cancer Society and American Heart Association praised the city for the health-conscious move when the draft was put before the public at the council's Feb. 20 meeting.

Right to smoke

But there was also support to exempt the private clubs, which operate under a higher level of scrutiny through their Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission licensing.

"I'm not arguing that it's healthy. I'm glad nobody smokes in the grocery store where I take my kids or the school or the library," said Samuel Parks, who runs Parks Place, a private Garland club where food is served. "But at a private club that's for members only and you have to be a member to come in, I think it should be OK."

Pennie Calder tends bar at Ebeneezer's Pub and Grill on Northwest Highway in Garland. (Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)

David Harris, who runs the private club at Bleachers Sports Grill, is concerned about being put at a competitive disadvantage. Bleachers is along the Richardson border and that city exempts private clubs from its smoking ordinance.

"My concern is a level playing field," Harris said. "As a private club and a business owner, if I want to run my business into the ground because non-smokers don't want to come in, that's my decision."

The council is now considering a second option: allowing the private clubs the same exemption as bingo halls and golf courses — which aren't indoors, but would be smoke-free as part of the parks system.

Other options

Exempting the private clubs drew criticism from those who promote wellness, however.

"The definition of a private club does not protect all workers from secondhand smoke," Leonard Freeman, a Garland native who is now associate director of programs at The Cooper Institute, told the council. "There's no level of exposure that's safe."

Aschelle Morgan said the American Heart Association, where she is a community policy director, wouldn't back any ordinance that allowed paid employees to be exposed to secondhand smoke.

But some of those workers don't believe they need protection.

At Ebeneezer's Bar and Grill, bartender Tanner Crowson, a nonsmoker, says she already has an option if she wants to avoid the smoke. She could work at any of hundreds of other places.

"Ninety-nine percent of our customers do smoke. I don't have a problem with it at all," she said. "I could go to a nonsmoking place. But I wouldn't want to because I like it here."

Garland resident Steve Nelson talks during a public hearing at the city hall in Garland. Debate continues at Garland City Hall on a proposed law that would eliminate smoking in all public places, and an amended version that makes an exception for private clubs. (Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)

'A different world'

Mayor Douglas Athas made it clear that the council isn't ready for a final decision.

"There is no predetermined position of this council," Athas said. "We will go through this at a pace to make sure we get this right and make sure we get an opportunity to listen to everybody."

Aubin said the yearlong move toward changing the 2006 law has generated more response than any in his two years on the council.

"Ten or 12 years ago, it was a different world," Aubin said. "I think people who do smoke have become accustomed to knowing 'we can't smoke in restaurants.'"