Commission may remove exemption for private clubs
By: Jennifer Potash
A vote on the proposed ban on smoking in public places in the Princetons will likely be delayed until June because the Princeton Regional Health Commission is expected to remove an exemption for private clubs tonight.
The ban on smoking in most public places, including bars and restaurants, was first introduced by the commission in February. One gray area in the proposed ordinance was if it would apply to private clubs.
The intent of the ordinance is to protect the patrons and employees of the businesses from environmental tobacco smoke, commonly known as secondhand smoke, commission members have said.
Barbara Strapp Nelson, an attorney representing three Prospect Street eating clubs — Ivy Club, Cottage Club and Cap and Gown Club — asked the commission to create a specific exemption for private clubs at its March 21 meeting.
During the commission’s April meeting, members reintroduced the smoking ordinance with an exemption for the eating clubs. But they agreed to research the issue of whether the eating clubs are private and examine the issue again at tonight’s meeting.
Health Commission member and physician Henry Powsner, who did not attend the April meeting, said he is opposed to the exemption for private clubs.
“I did not understand the logic at all of why (the commission) is saying the ordinance, which I certainly support medically, covers some workplaces like restaurants, where people generally go to be generally free of smoke, and defines a workplace as any place that has employees or independent contractors,” Dr. Powsner said Monday.
“All clubs usually have employees … to prepare and serve the food and clean up, so if we’re protecting the employees of restaurants, why are we not protecting the employees of a club?” he asked.
The proposed ordinance defines a workplace as “any enclosed area under the control of a public or private employer which employees use during the course of employment, including, but not limited to work areas, employee lounges, rest rooms, conference and classrooms and hallways.”
Private residences are not considered workplaces unless they are used as a child-care, adult day-care or health-care facility.
Self-employed individuals are exempted, provided that no other employees, volunteers, members of the public or independent contractors are present, according to the ordinance.
Ms. Nelson has said that her clients “place a high priority on their memberships’ rights of free association and privacy.”
Commission member and attorney Katherine Benesch said it is not up to the commission to address whether an organization is private. That determination, she said, is for the courts to make.
The commission’s attempts to be responsive to the concerns of the eating clubs led to a shift away from the public health focus on protecting the public and employees from secondhand smoke, said commission Vice Chairwoman Grace Sinden.
Removing the exemption for private clubs would constitute a major change to the ordinance and would require the ordinance to be reintroduced for a public hearing at a later meeting, said Princeton Regional Health Officer William Hinshillwood.
The commission, which has been working on this ordinance in various forms since March 1999, is anxious to move ahead, said Chairman Robert Henry.
“We don’t want to lose any momentum,” he said.
A final vote on the ordinance would likely come during a special meeting before the commission’s regularly scheduled June 20 meeting.
The commission has followed an unwritten rule of not adopting policy changes during its June or July meetings, when many residents and members are away on vacation. The commission will likely schedule a special meeting to vote on the ordinance in early June, Ms. Sinden said. The commission does not meet in August.
The commission has made some minor modifications to the ordinance since February. It removed a reference to 15 feet in a “reasonable distance” clause, that would have prohibited smoking within 15 feet of all entrances, windows and ventilation systems of public places after a local restaurant owner raised concerns about the distance.
Other changes in the ordinance include an exemption for hotel and motel rooms or other lodging establishments, provided the rooms have separate ventilation systems.
Tobacco shops have been excluded from the beginning of the discussion.
If adopted, the ordinance would be the most comprehensive municipal smoking ban in New Jersey.
Restaurant owners and bar owners have opposed the ban, fearing a loss of business.
Several hospitality and smokers’-rights organizations are considering filing lawsuits if the ordinance is adopted. A statewide anti-tobacco coalition has pledged to support the commission financially in the event of any legal challenges to the ordinance.
The New Jersey Public Health Council, a board appointed by the governor to advise the state health commissioner, in March unanimously approved a resolution endorsing the Princeton Health Commission’s ordinance and supporting a statewide initiative to eliminate smoking from indoor public workplaces, provided that the legislation does not pre-empt stronger local measures.