Smoking ban exception granted

Lawrence city commissioners gave tentative approval to one exception to the city’s smoking ban Tuesday night and almost immediately were asked to consider another.

Commissioners unanimously agreed that workers at the Hallmark Cards production plant, 101 McDonald Drive, be allowed to use a specially ventilated break room as an indoor smoking area.

The exception will make the area one of the few public places in the city where indoor smoking is allowed. But it may not be the last exception commissioners will consider.

Charles Pomeroy, an owner of LakeView Manor nursing home, 3015 W. 31st St., asked commissioners to consider an exception that would allow residents of his facility to continue using a room that is set aside for smoking.

“This facility is their home,” Pomeroy said. “They should be exempt based on that.”

The city’s ordinance does not prohibit residents from smoking in their homes. Pomeroy said many of the eight to 10 smokers who live at the nursing home have trouble with mobility and can not feasibly go outside to smoke.

City commissioners said they wanted to study the issue before making any decision.

On a 4-1 vote commissioners did agree to move forward on allowing downtown bars and restaurants to more easily install outdoor seating areas where their customers could drink and smoke.

Commissioners asked staff to draft an ordinance that would remove the requirement that a business have 70 percent of sales come from food in order to receive a license from the city to use the sidewalk for seating.

Commissioner David Schauner voted against proposal because he said it likely would create a “massive change” in the streetscape of Massachusetts Street.

In other business, city commissioners:

  • approved a request to install speed cushions along Bobwhite Drive between Bob Billings Parkway and George Williams Way.
  • agreed to move ahead with a proposal to require building contractors that operate in the city to be licensed. But commissioners said more discussion was needed on whether plumbers, electricians and other specialty trade workers should be included in the proposal since they already are required to go through some licensing processes.