The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Sunnyvale votes to update its smoking law

By Steve Enders

The tough-on-smoking Sunnyvale municipal code is getting an overhaul, but don't light up a stogie in celebration just yet. There's still no smoking in Sunnyvale bars.

The City Council last Tuesday decided to take the necessary steps to update the ordinance, making it conform with the state's Smokefree Workplace Law, which took effect Jan. 1.

The state's law was seen by the council as more lenient than the city's ordinance, because it contains loopholes for some businesses, particularly owner-operated establishments.

The city's ordinance stated that there is to be no smoking in Sunnyvale bars--no ifs, ands or butts.

The two laws caused confusion in Sunnyvale during the past month for at least one bar owner because of aggressive efforts by the public safety and neighborhood preservation departments to begin educating barkeeps on the state law's fine print.

But city officials were also visiting bar owners on separate occasions to inform them about the city ordinance, which took effect last month after being passed by the City Council late last year.

The existence of the city ordinance was surprising to bar owners like Tina Brammall of Beefy's Cabin, who is also in the process of applying for exemption from the state law.

She and three of her family members own Beefy's Cabin and are claiming exemption under the 'owner-operated' loophole in the state law.

When city officials came into their bar citing the city ordinance, Brammall's family didn't know what to do, so they addressed the city with their concerns.

This prompted the city attorney's office to review the matter. City Attorney Valerie Armento told the council it was up to them to decide whether they wanted to have a law that was more strict than the state's, which legally it could.

Councilmembers didn't want that, so they voted unanimously to update the city's ordinance to include the exemptions in the state law.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, March 4, 1998.
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