Savannah's City Council is considering a very controversial change to the city's smoking ordinance that would ban smoking in many places where it is now allowed. On Wednesday - the first of several public hearings on the proposed changes was held at City Hall. More than a dozen people stood up to speak at the meeting - many downtown business owners - by far the majority speaking out against the proposed changes.
The plan would make all businesses, including bars and restaurants, smoke free. The proposal would also limit where you could light up outside. Many business owners are worried the proposals could drive customers to go elsewhere. “Probably 90-percent of my customers smoke and since all this has come about - I’ve been talking to a lot of my customers and asking them how they feel about it - most of the locals who live anywhere near the islands said they'll quit coming downtown after work and go to the islands cause they'll be able to smoke,” said Bonnie Walden, owner of Bay Street Blues. One woman who said her mother had been diagnosed with cancer as a result of being exposed to second-hand smoke had another outlook, “I don't know about the bottom line as far as businesses are concerned - I know about the bottom line that I deal with every day at home with the situation that's been created by the diagnosis of this disease last year.”
No doubt this issue will continue to be controversial - if you didn't get to voice your opinion on Wednesday - you will have another chance at the quarterly town hall meeting - that's being held next Wednesday – July 28th at 7pm in the Savannah Civic Center Ballroom.
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