Salina ? City commissioners have agreed to allow voters to decide the fate of an ordinance that would restrict smoking at Salina restaurants.

Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to put the issue on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The commission had approved the ordinance in May, but a group that opposed the ban successfully petitioned to require the commission to either repeal the measure or put it before voters.

Under the ban, smokers could only light up inside Salina restaurants from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. or while in outdoor eating areas.

The ban was originally scheduled to go into effect in July, but it was pushed back to September after the Coalition for Reasonable People began its petition drive to force the vote. Commissioners on Monday again pushed back the start date to Dec. 3.

Gary Swartzendruber, who led the petition drive, said he believes businesses should be able to decide whether to allow their customers to smoke.

At Monday’s commission meeting, Salina physician Trent Davis said that’s not a good enough reason to repeal the ordinance.

“History will say, ‘Well, Salina’s another city that sold out to big tobacco,”‘ Davis said.

On the November ballot, voters will be asked whether they want to repeal the ordinance. In other words, a “no” vote would be a vote in favor of the smoking ban and a “yes” vote would be a vote against it.

“‘Yes’ means no, and ‘no’ means yes, which will be an important part of the public education process,” City Manager Dennis Kissinger said.

The commission opted for the general election over the Aug. 6 primary because the turnout for the general election is greater and because the issue can be included with candidates for office on a single ballot.