RESTAURANT OWNERS FIGHT SMOKING BAN IN CORVALLIS BARS

The Oregon Restaurant Association Points To The State Law That Requires
Separate Smoking Areas And Exempts Taverns

SALEM -- Restaurant owners defending what may be the last public
indoor refuge for smokers -- bars -- urged a state court Wednesday to
overturn a Corvallis ordinance that bans smoking in drinking places.

Last July 1, the university town became the first city in Oregon to go
beyond the state's indoor smoking restrictions and outlaw the practice
in bars along with all other "enclosed public places."

The Oregon Restaurant Association is fighting the ordinance, arguing
that it's invalid because it conflicts with the state no-smoking law.

State law requires restaurants to provide no-smoking areas and can
forbid smoking in the entire restaurant, but it exempts their bar
portions and taverns.

In arguments before the Oregon Court of Appeals, an attorney
representing the restaurant industry said the issue is whether cities
are free to make choices of policy that go beyond what the Legislature
decides.

"The state law was trumped by the city ordinance," Salem lawyer Jim
Brown told the court.

Brown also contends the ordinance is unconstitutionally vague because
of confusing wording about also forbidding smoking near entrances to
nonsmoking places.

The restaurant association is appealing a decision issued by Benton
County Circuit Judge Robert Gardner last April that local governments
can establish smoking restrictions that are more strict than the state's.

Corvallis voters last November decided to keep the bar smoking ban
after foes of the ordinance referred the measure to the ballot by petition.

Richard Wasserman, an assistant attorney general, said there is no
clear evidence the Legislature intended to pre-empt local governments
on the smoking ban issue.

Opponents of the ordinance, in their written brief filed with the
court, conceded that they face an uphill fight.

The appeals court took the case under advisement.