CENTRAL CITY, Colo.—This casino town is looking at tweaking smoking laws again.
After loosening a state restriction on how far smokers must be from building entrances before they light up, city officials are looking at redefining outdoor areas where smokers can puff.
State law bans smoking in most indoor areas, defined as any enclosed area or portion thereof. Under state law, removing a temporary wall isn’t enough to make an indoor area an outdoor area.
The City Council has proposed changing the definition of an outdoor area. An ordinance up for a third reading Dec. 4 would define it as having 40 percent or more of its structure permanently unobstructed to the outdoors.
Stephanie Steinberg of Smoke-Free Gaming of Colorado said her group will attend the meeting Dec. 4 to comment on the proposal, which she said would allow smoking in partially enclosed areas.
Central City already tweaked part of the state law that requires smokers to stand at least 15 feet away from entrances. Home-rule municipalities are allowed to change the distance, so Central City officials approved an ordinance shrinking the required distance to an inch.
The original statewide smoking ban that passed in 2006 exempted casinos, cigar bars and smoking lounges at Denver International Airport, but legislators voted this year to extend the law to casinos beginning Jan. 1, 2008.
