Common Council Fails To Pass Municipal Code Update That Would Ban Smoking Around Public Library – Library Director States Proposed Ban “Is Not A Veiled Attempt To Target Specific Individuals.”

The Common Council met 10/16/2024. One of the items they took up was the proposed update to the Municipal Code that would expand the smoking ban currently in place around Valley Transit Center to encompass the block around the library as well under the reasoning that the updated library will feature an outdoor learning space for children near Oneida Street and the city wants to ensure that the children are not exposed to second-hand smoke.

The Common Council ended up voting 7-5 in favor of passing the ordinance change, but in order to pass the measure needed the approval of a majority of the Council which meant it needed a minimum of 8 votes to pass. Because only 7 people voted in favor of it, the item did not pass.

My understanding is it would be possible for an alderperson to request the item be brought back for reconsideration at the next Common Council meeting. We will have to wait and see if any alderpersons do that.

I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:

This item was recommended unanimously for approval by the Board of Health after only 5 minutes of discussion. Multiple members of the Common Council, however, had concerns about the proposal.

Smoking is already banned around the Transit Center by federal law. This proposal would create a local prohibition on smoking around the block that houses the Library.

Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) was concerned that expanding the smoking ban around the city block of the library would push smokers across Washington Street to where the new Merge mixed-use housing development is located, thus negatively impacting residents and businesses. She felt the proposal was too much government overreach. Additionally, she stated, “I’m concerned that this might be viewed as a veiled attempt at controlling what types of people are allowed on the library premises, and that very much concerns me.”

Regarding that concern, Library Executive Director Colleen Rortvedt said that part of the library’s strategic plan was to be welcoming to all. She said, “It is a pretty frequent thing that I am defending the presence of people who are experiencing homelessness at the library, and I’ll defend that every day. And if you have a problem with people experiencing homelessness at the library, ‘Do something to help your community,’ is how I tend to respond. So, this is not a veiled attempt to target specific individuals. This is specific to the rearrangement of the library’s infrastructure, the way the parking lot will be changed in terms of the in and out, and making sure that we can have a safe place and a healthy place that isn’t filled with smoke by the Children’s Garden.”

Alderperson Patti Heffernan (District 8) felt the prohibition would negatively impact the social opportunities for the lower income people who utilize Valley Transit. She said, “[A] large portion of people who use Valley Transit are people who use tobacco, and when they are congregating and socializing together, most of the time they are smoking. This also tends to be, you know, groups of people who are in the, you know, lower income range, who have very few options for, you know, social interaction that doesn’t require a payment somewhere of some kind. And the library is another free place for them to be, including, you know, some of our unhoused population, and getting that social need met, that’s the way that they do it.”

She also thought the prohibition would push people to other areas and eventually cause larger problems.

Alderperson Alex Schultz (District 9) was also concerned this prohibition would simply cause people to start smoking in front of the Merge development. He asked if there had been any discussions by staff as to designating a small space, possibly on the south side of the parking lot, as a smoking area.

Mayor Woodford said, “There were not significant discussions of dedicating right of way for designated smoking areas, given the fact that there’s still ample right of way where smoking would be allowed in the immediate vicinity of both of these sites.”

Alderperson Chris Croatt (District 14) asked how the prohibition would be enforced and was told that action by the police would be complaint driven. Executive Director Rortvedt explained the library’s current process of enforcing the existing ban on smoking along the sidewalk that runs in front of the main entrance. If someone is just walking through, they do not say anything. If someone is standing and lingering they will politely let them know that it is a no-smoking area and point out a location where smoking is permitted.

Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) noted that people cannot smoke within 20 feet of a playground. This prohibition seemed in line with that existing regulation.

Alderperson Nate Wolff (District 12) also thought it was not unreasonable to prohibit people from smoking around children and pointed out that it was not that far for people to walk over to the sidewalk by the yellow ramp. He suggested that perhaps the ban could be lifted during the hours the library was not open.

Alderperson Patrick Hayden (District 7) noted that there was already a prohibition on smoking within 20 feet of an entrance and there was already not much space on the library that was not within that distance. “I don’t see this asking for that much more to where I would vote against this.”

The Council ended up voting 7-5 in favor of approving the prohibition, but they needed approval by a majority of the Council in order to pass it which meant it needed 8 affirmative votes to pass. As a result, the item did not pass.

[I have to say, I find the claim that this is not a veiled attempt to dissuade loiterers from hanging out around the library to be questionable. If this prohibition was just about preventing people from smoking near the Children’s Garden, then they would have just banned smoking along Oneida Street near the Children’s Garden. Instead, they proposed banning smoking around the entire block, even along the parts that are nowhere near the Children’s Garden which suggests that the ban is about more than just making sure that children are not expose to second-hand smoke.]

View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1213521&GUID=A5313A45-DFAA-48DE-B2CC-FE146922F184