Recommended crackdown on underage drinking also on agenda.
By: Jennifer Potash
The court-overturned smoking ban ordinance and a potential ordinance cracking down on underage drinking are on the Princeton Regional Health Commission’s agenda tonight.
The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. at Princeton Borough Hall.
The commission will discuss Mercer County Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg’s decision striking down the smoking ban and whether to appeal the ruling.
A week after the Health Commission’s June adoption of the state’s most stringent ban on smoking in indoor public places, the Virginia-based National Smokers Alliance and three Princeton Borough bars and restaurants – Lahiere’s, the Annex and the Ivy Inn – filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the ordinance.
On Aug. 29, Judge Feinberg overturned the ordinance, which prohibited smoking in restaurants, bars, private clubs and hotels and motels without separate ventilation systems. Judge Feinberg ruled that the Health Commission did not have the authority to enact the measure because state law preempts municipalities from adopting limitations on smoking in public places that are more restrictive than the state statutes.
The commission is expected to discuss proposed legislation recently introduced by state Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Lawrence Township) that would give municipalities, local boards of health or regional health commissions the authority to adopt smoking bans. The legislation would permit smoking bans in bars, taverns, restaurants, enclosed retail food establishments with up to 4,000 square feet of area, government buildings, health care facilities, educational institutions and workplaces with 50 or fewer employees.
Also, the commission is expected to discuss potential ordinances in Princeton Borough and Princeton Township granting police the authority to enforce underage drinking laws on private property.
It is illegal for a person under the age of 21 to purchase, possess or consume alcohol. And Gov. Christie Whitman signed a bill in June authorizing municipalities to adopt local ordinances allowing police to charge underage drinkers on private property.
Under the state law, violators could face a penalty of $250 for the first offense and $350 for the second offense and other penalties such as the suspension of a driver’s license and mandatory community service.