U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks issued a ruling today on the city’s one year old smoking ban. He clarified what steps a bar owner must take to be in compliance with the ordinance.
A bar owner must post “no smoking” signs and remove ashtrays and other smoking accouterments, Sparks ruled. If a patron continues to smoke, the owner can no longer be held liable for not taking additional steps.
Makes sense. Chip recently went into a bar where the establishment clearly wasn’t doing what was required by the law. He filed a complaint and got quite a few nasty comments on his post about it. It’s clearly still a contentious issue even after a year. Most, both smoker and non-smoker, seem to have moved on.