Addition to the San Marcos No Smoking Ordinance

The San Marcos “No Smoking Ordinance,” which went into effect January first, made an addition to the smoking ordinance that went into effect on Sunday.

This past October San Marcos City council passed a no smoking ordinance and on June first the ban took effect anywhere the city deems a public place, which includes bars, restaurants, and businesses. As of June first smoking is prohibited in public places both inside and within 10 feet of the entrances, which to the surprise of some also includes the use of e-cigarettes. I spoke to Trey Hatt of the City managers office for more on the new level of the ordinance.

“The Ordinance went into effect on January first  for city owned and operated facilities, and June first for the community at large. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback since the ordinance passed in October from businesses and have had a lot of businesses go smoke free before June 1st”
– Trey Hatt

He also shed light on one of the challenges faced with implementing a ban of this nature.

“I think a pretty large component is informing people. We inform people about the change and the ordinance before we go straight to enforcement. We’ve been reaching out to a wide variety of groups since the fall. We’ve got Environmental health, main street, city marshals, parks and rec, human resources, and park rangers have all been distributing information.”
– Trey Hatt

Hatt expressed that the ordinance was geared to the health conscious and growing community.

“I think we all have an interest in maintaining a healthy community, I think we can all agree that everyone has a right to clean air.”
– Trey Hatt

Some San Marcos’s businesses have acquired permits to allow smoking in designated areas.

Matthew Hamill, KTSW News