The Birmingham City Council today approved an ordinance creating a massive no-smoking zone that spans about 100 city blocks around UAB, Children’s Hospital and the VA hospital.
The ordinance was unanimously approved. It will go into effect on Dec. 1.
Officials from the Jefferson County Department of Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, UAB Hospital, Children’s Hospital and the Birmingham VA Medical Center. No one spoke against the ordinance during the public hearing on the matter Tuesday morning.
“I see effects of secondhand smoke on children I care for. We know there is no safe level of second-hand smoke and that smoke-free ordinances improve the health of communities,” said Susan Walley, a pediatrician at Children’s of Alabama.
The no-smoking area, dubbed a “health district” will cover most of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Children’s Hospital, Cooper Green Medical Center, Jefferson County Department of Health, Bartow Arena and Veteran’s Administration Medical Center.
Smoking will be prohibited in “all outdoor public rights-of-way, sidewalks, streets, curbs and gutters, alleys, bus stop areas and parks within the Health District.”
Property owners within the health district will be allowed to create a designated smoking zone, but it must be no larger than 200 square feet. This amendment does not include smoking in moving motor vehicles or smoking in private residences.
In 2012, the city of Birmingham banned smoking in a majority of all public places and businesses. This ordinance bans all smoking, even outdoors on streets, sidewalks and alleys.
Council President Valerie Abbott raised concerns about the enforcement of the new ordinance, saying she’s personally seen groups of people smoking outside the doors of UAB Hospital.
“When you leave the buildings, you are walking out through a cloud of cigarette smoke. How you will deal with that?” Abbott said. “We can pass all the ordinances we want, if no one enforces them, they’re only worth the paper they’re written on.”
Health Officer and CEO of the Jefferson County Department of Health Mark Wilson said he isn’t too worried about the enforcement of the new ordinance. He’s not worried, because, after the city approved its smoking ordinance in 2012, Wilson said all it took was a few “gentle reminders” and education about the no-smoking zone in order to enforce the new rules.
The 2012 ordinance establishes a $50 fee for individuals who violate the no-smoking ordinance. For businesses, the fee is $100 for a first violation in a year, $200 for the second violation in a year and $500 for each additional violation in a year. The violation is like a parking ticket.
The definition of “smoking” as it exists in the current city ordinance does not include vaping or electronic cigarettes. Wilson said he hopes to soon ask the council to amend the ordinance so that the definition of “smoking” includes vaping and electronic cigarettes.
Read the new ordinance below:
Health District Ordinance F... by Anna Beahm on Scribd
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