Bellflower Adopts Tough Anti-Smoking Ordinance

Despite opposition by powerful state restaurant interests, the Bellflower City Council on Monday outlawed smoking in restaurants and in virtually every other enclosed space to which the public has access.

The new law, which goes into effect on March 5, is one of California’s most sweeping. Restaurant owners complained that they will lose smoking patrons’ business to surrounding communities where laws against smoking are not as strict.

City Council members, however, said that the well-known dangers of secondhand smoking override personal liberty and profits and that it is their duty to protect the health of Bellflower residents. The ordinance requires hotel and motel owners to set aside 10% of their rooms for nonsmokers.