I’ve been (and continue to be) too busy at work to follow a lot of local news, but the city of Madison did comfortably pass their anti-smoking ordinance.

After six months of debating and revising and another hour of talking Monday night, the Madison City Council voted to restrict smoking throughout the city.

The ordinance takes effect in about two months.

Councilwoman Cynthia McCollum first brought the Clean Indoor Air Ordinance to the table last June. She moved to approve the ordinance Monday night, and it passed 6 to 1, with Councilman Tim Cowles casting the lone “no” vote.

This ordinance might have given Madison restaurants an increase in traffic if they had passed this ordinance before Huntsville.  Instead, they’re playing follow the leader.

Calling this a smoking ban is a bit of a misnomer.  The ordinance forces business to either ban smoking or only allow it in closed areas.  Those areas must be clearly labeled and no person under the age of 19 is permitted in without an accompanying guardian.

• HSV Councilman Proposes Tough Illegal Immigration Law
• Glenn Watson to run for Madison County Commission
• Sales Tax Update
• Madison moves closer to smoking ban
• Huntsville to raise mayor’s pay?

This entry was posted by Brian on Wednesday, January 10th, 2007 at 6:35 am and is filed under Madison County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.