Colorado’s indoor smoking ban made one thing pretty clear: If you’re going to light up, take it outside.
A loophole in Colorado’s Clean Indoor Air Act, however, adds a little haze on exactly how far outside you have to go before you can light up.
State law says 15 feet, but cities and towns also have the option of increasing or decreasing the distance that puffers have to be from a public entrance.
Already, a few places have extended the distance, such as Avon and Arvada with 25 feet and Fort Collins with 20 feet. Smokers in two cities, Glendale and Golden, however, can light up just outside main doorways.
It’s the only part of the law that allows cities to be less stringent than the state “and some have taken advantage of that,” said Kevin Bommer of the Colorado Municipal League.
The setback at entryways aims to prevent people from walking through smoke while entering and leaving establishments.
The distance flexibility was included to accommodate each city’s needs, said Pete Meersman, president of the Colorado Restaurant Association.
While the association wasn’t involved in crafting the provision, Meersman said some cities are finding the 15-foot buffer “isn’t workable in some places,” where people would have to go into the street or to the end of the block to smoke.
In Glendale, where the zero radius was approved Aug. 15, it means leaving it up to businesses to decide what works.
“Police counted 60 businesses that couldn’t possibly comply with the 15-foot thing,” said Glendale Mayor Larry Harte. “We didn’t want to station a police officer with a tape measure outside the door.”
For the Applebee’s restaurant at 410 S. Colorado Blvd., the problem was how to obey the law while setting up an area for smoking.
“The back door is 11 feet from the property line and the front door is 13 feet,” said Paul Foster, one of the managers. “We moved the ashtray to 13 1/2 feet at the edge of the parking lot. People haven’t complained.”
In Golden, where downtown businesses nestle next to each other, the answer also was a zero setback. The less-restrictive limit was put into effect Aug. 22, and appears to be a nonissue.
“Fifteen feet was putting you out in the street,” said Brian Thompson of Golden. He smoked at a table in a cordoned-off sidewalk area just outside the Buffalo Rose’s main door.
“You hear about a lot of businesses struggling because of the ban since their customers drink and they smoke,” Thompson said. “It’s important they (smokers) have someplace to go.”
A 15-foot radius wouldn’t allow anyone to smoke in the historic downtown and wouldn’t be friendly to tourists, said Mayor Chuck Baroch.
Karen Oxman, a retired nurse, could get only one fellow City Council member to join her in opposing the zero setback.
“Council discussion was about how we could be perceived as being unfriendly to visitors,” Oxman said. “I don’t think a visitor from Montana would care.”
Enforcement was a concern because businesses must monitor smoking or risk fines for violations.
“It would take us away from our business,” said Roger Tapia, owner of Creekside Jewelers on Washington Street and chairman of Golden’s Downtown Merchants Association. “This way, we can focus on the inside of our stores.”
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
