Suburban County Considers Outdoor Smoking Ban

By Prescott Carlson in News on May 19, 2010 9:20PM

Many cities like Chicago ban outdoor smoking in public places such as beaches, parks, and playgrounds, but members of one suburban county board are wondering if smoking in your own backyard should be off limits, too.

The Daily Herald reports that Aurora Township resident Stacy Blaszak went in front of the Development Committee of western Kane County with a stack of research on the harms of outdoor smoking, and she wants the committee to consider a ban on smoking in residential neighborhoods:

"This is a very strong issue to a lot of people," Blaszak said. "In my personal area where I live, everyone is about nine feet away from somebody's property line. Even with closed windows (smoke) seeps its way in, especially if you have multiple people smoking. There's an issue from babies' to children's health to pets to people like me with breathing disabilities. These smokers, nothing personal against them, but they don't really have a constitutional right to smoke. But people do have a right and a need to breathe."

Committee Chairman Cathy Hurlbut (R-Elgin) told Baszak that such a ban wasn't out of the question, even though she questioned if it would be legal, and was quoted as saying, "This will be back on the agenda again." Blaszak claims similar laws already exist in the towns of Worth and Glenview, but a search of village websites turns up no such laws. The only related items were a discussion of banning smoking in outdoor dining areas in Glenview, and an ordinance banning smoking in "smoking establishments" such as hookah lounges and tobacco shops in Worth.

While it may seem ridiculous on its face to ban somebody from smoking in their own private backyard, at one time many thought it equally improbable the government would ban lighting up in privately owned bars and restaurants as well. Such an overall smoking ban could possibly pass muster under the guise of a "clean air policy" for the good of the public health, which is how some municipalities are able to ban burning leaves and yard waste on private property because it aggravates asthma conditions of those nearby.

While a smoke-free neighborhood is Blasak's idea of paradise, board member Mike Kenyon (R-South Elgin) was quoted by the Beacon Sun as saying, "That's a utopia I don't want to be in."