KHI News Service
DERBY, Jan. 2
The Derby City Council is poised to once again debate a proposed ban on smoking in public spaces.
The Wichita Eagle reported Tuesday that next week”s city council meeting would not likely produce a final decision on a comprehensive smoking ban prohibiting smoking in all public places.
But city officials are expected to pass an ordinance that in some way restricts public smoking.
“We know we’re going to do something,” Derby Mayor Dion Avello told the newspaper. “I just don’t know what.”
One ordinance under consideration would ban indoor smoking at restaurants, bars, public spaces and places of employment. Smoking would still be allowed in outdoor dining areas at restaurants, tobacco and smoke shops. A similar ban was recently enacted in Overland Park.
Local clean air advocates asked the city to study the issue last year. Derby, which has a population of about 20,000, is just south of Wichita.
The city council will meet at 7 p.m. on Jan. 9 at Derby City Hall, 611 Mulberry.
In other news:
A no-smoking ordinance will take effect in Garden City on Jan. 8. Smoking will be prohibited in bars, restaurants, fraternal organizations and some outdoor sports venues.
But it may not end with that.
The Hutchinson News reported that a group of Garden City business owners will ask the city for a public vote to relax the restrictions, including an exemption for bars or restaurants that install exhaust fans in smoking areas.