Schaumburg smoking ban close to state's
Schaumburg trustees Tuesday changed their nine-month-old indoor smoking ban to bring it into stronger agreement with the similar state law that will start Jan. 1.
In most cases, however, they were comfortable keeping the village code more restrictive in the parts it was.
About the only section in which the village code was made less restrictive to agree with the state law was in the percentage of hotel rooms that must be smoke-free.
The village had required 80 percent of a hotel's rooms to be non-smoking, but will change that restriction to only 75 percent, like the state.
Schaumburg still will ban smoking in outdoor dining areas of restaurants as well as in common areas of multifamily residential buildings, while the state law does not.
One area where Schaumburg's code is becoming stronger is in its fines.
Previously, the village code had limited the fine for a person smoking to $100. Business owners who violated the law could be fined $100 for the first offense and $500 for each further offense within a year after the first.
Like the coming state law, the fine in Schaumburg now will be between $100 and $250 for any person smoking in a prohibited area.
Business owners who violate code will be fined $250 for the first offense, $500 for the second and $2,500 for each further offense within a year of the first.
Like the state, Schaumburg no longer will grant exemptions for actors smoking on stage to be in character during a play or performance.
Trustee Mark Madej, who chairs Schaumburg's Health and Human Services Committee, said new props allow actors to simulate smoking without burning tobacco.
Schaumburg officials spent much time in the past year defining allowable outdoor smoking shelters for restaurant patrons and employees to use during cold winter months. These will remain allowed in Schaumburg, even though the state law doesn't acknowledge such shelters.
Schaumburg's law that began last January matched those approved simultaneously in Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates, Palatine and Rolling Meadows.
Tuesday's changes weren't made in agreement with those other communities, but the original concern against creating major differences in the area is already solved by the new state law, Madej said.