Tools

UPDATE: City Commission Discusses Smoking Ordinance, Potential Salvation Army Land Sale

UPDATE: City Commission Discusses Smoking Ordinance, Potential Salvation Army Land Sale

By KFBB News Team

Story Created: Nov 17, 2009 at 4:38 PM MST

Story Updated: Nov 18, 2009 at 9:56 AM MST

The Montana Clean Indoor Air Act Prohibits smoking inside all public places, and with more smokers stepping outside, an existing city ordinance is coming under fire in Great Falls.

A representative from the Montana Tavern Association and the Montana Coin Machine Operators Association spoke to City Commissioners at Tuesday night's work session about the state's only ordinance dictating how far a person must be from a building while smoking.

"A smoker needs to be 20 feet away from a door, window or an air vent,” said John Hayes, the Executive Director of the Montana Tavern Association. “And physically, here in the city of Great Falls, that's almost impossible on some of our city streets; for instance, Central Avenue."

However, City Attorney Chad Parker says that his office has a responsibility to protect citizens from second-hand smoke.

The Clean Indoor Air Act has a provision about smoke "infiltrating" a public space, meaning certain behavior is also prohibited by state law.

The commission requested more information about other cities with smoking bans and similar ordinances in place before they take action.

Then, at the commission meeting, a public hearing about the possible sale of city park land to the salvation army was set for December 1st. That non-profit built its Community Center on the land, which they've leased for the past 35 years.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

News, Sports, Weather for Great Falls, Helena, and all of Montana and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

Great Falls & Helena Weather

Icon
Great Falls Great Falls Intl Airport, MT
Current Temp 14.0 °F
A Few Clouds
Wind : Calm
Pressure : 1020.2 mb
Humidity : 84 %
Icon
Helena Helena Regional, MT
Current Temp 13.0 °F
Overcast
Wind : Calm
Pressure : 1023.4 mb
Humidity : 92 %
Click here for our video forecast
More Weather
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

AP Video