What about outdoor smoking at a restaurant?

Grace Grinager of Cook County Public Health received questions about smoking in outdoor dining areas. Is it allowed? Here is her response:

“Neither the County nor MDH regulate smoking in outdoor areas. As a business, you have the power to put your own restrictions on smoking in outdoor areas if you choose to do so.

“There is specific language about what constitutes an “outdoor area.” If an outdoor dining area was in a tent with a ceiling and more than 50 percent of its wall space covered, it would not be an outdoor area anymore, and smoking would not be allowed. According to the MN Clean Air Act: “Indoor Area” means a space between a floor and a ceiling that is 50 percent enclosed by walls, doorways or windows (open or closed) around the perimeter. A wall includes retractable dividers, garage doors, plastic sheeting or any other temporary or permanent physical barrier. A (standard) window screen is not a wall.

“These days people are not used to dining around smoking unless they are smokers themselves. If you have enough space and are considering allowing smoking, you may want to have two separate areas. If this is not possible, from a public health perspective, I’d advocate for not allowing smoking in a shared outdoor seating area since some customers may have asthma or other lung conditions, and sitting in a smoking area (even outdoors) would be detrimental to their health through exposure to secondhand smoke.”

Grace says she can get signage for businesses for free from the American Lung Association for nonsmoking areas if anyone is interested. Email ccchamber@boreal.org if you would like these “No Smoking” signs.