Smoking Ban Moves Outdoors

As a pioneering public smoking ban went into effect Friday in Calabasas, enforcement came from a higher authority: Mother Nature.

A pouring rainstorm snuffed out renegade smokers' cigarettes and sent them scurrying for cover as security guards began issuing warnings at the town's main shopping center.

"You could get a $500 citation," one of them advised Danielle Wakely of Westwood as she sat at an outside table at the Calabasas Commons mall and puffed on a Marlboro.

A moment earlier, shopper Erit Litvak had bummed a cigarette and a light from Wakely. She listened to the guard's warning with her mouth agape.

"I'm putting it out," Litvak, of Tarzana, exclaimed. "Am I in trouble?"

Calabasas, an upscale suburb perched on the western edge of the San Fernando Valley, was generating international attention for what appears to be the nation's first ban on smoking in all outdoor public spaces. Violators can be fined up to $500.

As the day wore on, smokers were playing a cat-and-mouse game with mall security. Cupping their cigarettes in their hands and hiding them under patio tables, they flipped them to the outdoor mall's damp sidewalks when guards approached.

While many anti-smoking forces have cheered Calabasas on as it adopted its new municipal ordinance, the effort has met a decidedly mixed reaction within the 13.2-square-mile city.

Rain was pouring outside City Hall as Councilman Barry Groveman offered assurances that enforcement of what he diplomatically called the "secondhand smoke control ordinance" would be phased in gently. He had just finished fielding inquiries about the new law from reporters in Australia and Spain.

"We're making it acceptable to ask what has been an uncomfortable question until now: 'Would you please put that cigarette out?' " Groveman said. "We're putting the force of law behind it."

He noted that the city is trying to accommodate those who just must light up. The new ordinance allows property owners to apply to set up designated smoking areas outside businesses and offices. These must be at least 20 feet from entrances, walking paths or other areas where nonsmokers might be. So far, only two such areas exist, outside a Calabasas Road electronics firm and behind City Hall.

During Friday's rainstorm, no one was using the City Hall smoking site next to a trash bin. Only one butt was visible in the ash tray.