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Smoke-Free Burbank - Coming soon!

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Contributed by: Eric Michael Cap on 2/2/2007

The city of Burbank is moving forward with the draft of a formal Smoking Regulation Ordinance that will restrict smoking in the following public places:

- City parks, including the Chandler Bikeway
- Restaurant outdoor dining areas
- Service lines, including ATM's, Valet parking, Transit stops, Movie lines
- Building entrances (distance to be determined)
- Outdoor shopping areas including the Farmers Market
- Downtown Burbank, Empire Center and Magnolia Park

The City Council directed staff to come back with the draft ordinance at Tuesday night's Council meeting, during which they also adopted a Tobacco Retail Licensing Ordinance, 5-0 Vote.

During Council deliberations, Vice-Mayor Marsha Ramos expressed a strong desire to "take a bite at it now" in order to get something in place that would cover most of the problem areas in Burbank. Councilman Jef Vander Borght demonstrated the public's overwhelming support for the measure by showing a one-inch thick stack of e-mails he'd received in favor versus four e-mails against, which appeared to quell attempts to slow down the process from two of his fellow Councilmen. Mayor Todd Campbell, a clean-air advocate, debunked several misleading statements made by Councilman Dr. David Gordon, including "no evidence of second-hand smoke being harmful" and an inappropriate comparison of second-hand smoke to barbeque smoke.

The ordinance still allows people to smoke in their homes and on sidewalks in residential areas. There will be designated smoking areas in the major retail shopping centers to provide a place where smokers can still take a puff without blowing smoke in the faces of the greater majority (adults and children) who don't.

"The Council's actions sends a very clear message that we care about the health and quality of life of all Burbank residents and (their) children" said Eric Michael Cap, who along with Robert Phipps, has been lobbying the city to follow the footsteps of Santa Monica and Calabasas who adopted similar ordinances in 2006.

"All we want is clean air" says Phipps, a former smoker and cancer survivor who is also lobbying Sherman Oaks Galleria to create designated smoking areas.

Burbank is part of a growing group of cities taking unprecedented steps to protect their residents from the health dangers and nuisance of second-hand smoke. The Public Hearing (vote) for the adoption of the ordinance is set for Tuesday, March 27th @ 6:30pm.

Cap sums up: "I truly believe this landmark decision, combined with a Tobacco Retail Licensing Ordinance that will greatly reduce the illegal and immoral sale of cigarettes to minors, will have very positive impact in our community. In some cases those impacts will be life changing; people will live healthier and longer lives, especially those teens & adults who will be further discouraged from smoking".

For more information, please contact the following:

Eric Michael Cap - (818) 567-1911 - emc@goldstreet.net
Robert Phipps Esq. - (818) 497-1632 - cleanairaddict@yahoo.com
City Manager Mary Alvord - (818) 238-5800 - MAlvord@mail.ci.burbank.ca.us
Mayor Todd Campbell - tcampbell@cleanenergyfuels.com
Vice-Mayor Marcia Ramos - mramos@mail.ci.burbank.ca.us
Councilman Jef Vander Borght - jvanderborght@mail.ci.burbank.ca.us

Web site links: http://www.SmokeFreeBurbank.com

http://www.burbankca.org/planning/smoking.shtml

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Showing 1-4 of 4 comments

Submitted By: Sharon Tena

posted on 4/20/2007 @ 1:12:57 PM

Rated Story

There are many things that we could do to protect kids, this one is a feel good action that amounts to nothing at all.

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Submitted By: Alisha Lopez

posted on 2/5/2007 @ 11:48:12 PM

Rated Story

It's great that the Burbank City Council is taking a stand and protecting kids and Burbank residents alike from the harms of tobacco! What a great example for other cities to follow!!

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Submitted By: Diana Phipps

posted on 2/2/2007 @ 6:23:02 PM

Rated Story

I support a SMOKE-FREE Burbank 100%!!!!!

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Submitted By: Robert Phipps

posted on 2/2/2007 @ 5:47:00 PM

Rated Story

Far too long in coming. I don't understand why smokers can't enjoy a cigarette unless they simultaneously force other people to be miserable. They'll still be able to smoke, but we air-breathes won't have to.

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Showing 1-4 of 4 comments

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Eric Michael-Cap

Burbank , CA

Eric Michael-Cap has posted 7 stories and 7 comments since joining on 8/23/2006. Eric Michael-Cap's average story rating is 3.09.

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