GALVESTON, Texas — Island voters may get a chance to decide during the May election where smoking should be allowed.
Dissatisfied with the smoking ordinance they adopted earlier this year, city council members voted unanimously to consider four options for changing it.
The ordinance, which takes effect Jan. 1, bans smoking in restaurants, bars, outdoor seating areas, tobacco stores and private clubs.
During their Dec. 3 meeting, council members will talk about amending it to allow smoking in tobacco stores and bars. They also will consider either rescinding it permanently or rescinding it and putting it on the May ballot.
Complaints from business owners, including the bar and restaurant owners who initially supported the ban, prompted the council to reconsider the changes.
The ordinance as adopted is one of the strictest in the state. But as it was proposed, the ordinance was more consistent with regulations in other cities, allowing smoking in outdoor seating areas and tobacco stores.
The Galveston Restaurant Association supported the proposed ordinance but said the adopted regulations were too strict. Most restaurant owners wanted to allow smoking in outdoor seating areas.
Councilman Tarris Woods, who insisted the ban extend to tobacco stores when the ordinance was adopted, said on Thursday he had changed his mind after talking to downtown business owners.
"That’s the reason why I’m trying to redeem that particular position I took regarding the tobacco shop," he said.
Mayor pro tem Danny Weber, who opposed the ban when the council adopted it, suggested it should be rescinded.
"Businesses don’t like what we did, and those are the folks we should be listening to," he said. "Everybody makes mistakes. It looks like we made a mistake with the ordinance we adopted."
If the council couldn’t agree to abandon the ordinance, it should consider allowing smoking in bars, Weber said.
Councilwoman Linda Colbert, who did not attend the meeting during which the council adopted the ordinance, suggested smoking in bars would be fine, until she learned it is not illegal to take a child into a bar in Texas.
"That makes it difficult," she said.
Both council members Elizabeth Beeton and Karen Mahoney said they did not want to change the ordinance.
"I think it could be workable," Beeton said. "I know it would take some getting used to, but it’s fair. There’s a lot to commend in this ordinance."
Mahoney suggested the council should let the voters decide.
After discussing changes on Dec. 3, the council will make its final decision Dec. 10.
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