Byram weighs smoking limits

Customers at Reed Pierce's Sportsman's Grill often enjoy a cigarette with their drink and burger.

But if Byram joins the list of Mississippi cities that make public buildings smoke-free, "we're going to have to adjust to it, and try and make it work," said Ronnie Pierce, who co-owns the popular Siwell Road restaurant.

Byram is exploring a no-smoking ordinance that was introduced to residents during a 7 p.m. public hearing Thursday at Byram City Hall.

The proposed ordinance could mirror a number of metro-area communities, said City Clerk Angela Richburg. Such an ordinance could "say there is no smoking in public areas and at government property, within 25 feet of the doors," she said. "It's pretty standard to Clinton, Flowood and some of the other areas."

Mayor Nick Tremonte said the city wants to hear from all concerned. "We'll try to put together one that's right down the middle," he told about 30 people at the hearing. City leaders will hold a second public hearing after putting together a draft ordinance, he said.

Both smokers and non-smokers let aldermen know their positions.

"I'm a smoker. I smoke in my business," said resident Adrienne Hamby. "There are places in Byram where I'd like to have a cigarette and a drink.

"No offense, but I don't think you guys should take the vote on this. It should be up to the business' discretion."

Others were just as impassioned. "You'd better think long and hard about what you're standing up for," said Roany McClellan, who watched his mother, a smoker, succumb to cancer. "I've had 40-plus years of second-hand smoke. I could be the next one diagnosed."

Alderwoman Theresa Marble said she hasn't made up her mind on the ordinance, but empathizes with those who try but fail to quit the smoking habit.

"Long story short, I watched my daddy die of emphysema," Marble said. "It was very cruel. It broke my heart.

"Whatever decision we make, we need to make it for the benefit of the community, and not for a select few. Personally, I'd like to see cigarettes banned from the face of the earth."

Pierce said his restaurant has a patio area where patrons smoke. If an ordinance prohibited smoking a certain distance from a door or wall, he said, it would cause a problem.

If the city were to adopt an ordinance, Richburg said, it would allow leaders to apply for grant funding from entities that require cities to be smoke-free.

"By no means have we dug down and decided anything. Our aldermen didn't want to do a lot of work on this until they speak to the public and get their feelings on the issue," Richburg said.

Dozens of cities statewide are smoke-free, including Jackson, Flora, Brandon, Flowood, Clinton, Ridgeland, Madison and Pearl in the metro area.

Mike Blaine, owner and manager of the Swinging Bridge Fish House on Holiday Lane behind Capitol Body Shop, said his restaurant prohibits smoking inside.

But patrons often smoke on the restaurant's wrap-around porch, he said. "When it's outside, it ain't got nothing to do with the inside," he said.

Said Pierce: "It's definitely going to be upsetting to my customers, but we have good enough food, service, and a good, all-around establishment that I think we can keep them. They may quit me for a while, but at some point, they'll come back."