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South Bay Smokers Protest Proposed Tobacco Rules

SAN JOSE (BCN) -- Patrons trickled into a busy tobacco shop in downtown San Jose Monday to sign petitions against an ordinance that would tighten tobacco restrictions in unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County.

The petitions signed between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Mission Pipe Shop will go before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday in opposition to their tobacco retailer permit ordinance, which requires retailers that sell tobacco in unincorporated areas to obtain and maintain an annual permit, limits the number of retail stores near schools, and bans the sale of flavored tobacco products.

The one-time application fee is $340, and the annual permit fee is $425. Under the ordinance, new retail outlets would be prohibited from selling tobacco if they operate a pharmacy or are located within 1,000 feet of a school or within 500 feet of another tobacco retailer.

KCBS' Betsy Gebhart Reports:

Charles Janigian, president of the California Association of Retail Tobacconists, called the ordinance a "business buster" Monday, saying that it will place tobacco businesses that are in close proximity to those in incorporated areas at an economic disadvantage.

"This will hurt small businesses dramatically," Janigian said.

Donna Brown, the owner of the Mission Pipe Shop since 1977, agreed with Janigian.

"We're afraid we're going to see further decline in our business," Brown said.

Debbie Morton, who runs Smoker's Paradise in San Jose with her husband and Edward's Pipe and Tobacco in Los Altos, said that if the ordinance passes, they would be out of business because 90 percent of the pipe tobacco products sold at the businesses are flavored.

Board President Ken Yeager, who introduced the tobacco retailer permit ordinance, along with the multi-unit residences ordinance and the smoking pollution control ordinance, has said the measures would strengthen the county's efforts to combat youth smoking and protect residents from secondhand smoke exposure in public settings.

Matt Harrison, the owner of West Coast Cigars in San Jose and Knickerbockers in Menlo Park, however, said the county is using minor smoking as an alibi.

"This is just more ways of telling us what we can't do," Harrison said.

The ordinance was passed last month but will receive a second reading and final approval at the board meeting on Tuesday. The ordinance would be effective 60 days after final passage.

The board has already approved a smoking pollution control ordinance, which bans smoking at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, outdoor shopping malls, all county parks, in hotels and motels, at retail stores that exclusively sell tobacco and smoking products and within 30 feet of any outdoor service area, such as a ticket line.

The board also passed a multi-unit residences ordinance, which bans smoking in duplexes, condo and townhouse complexes, and apartment buildings. The ordinance does allow for setting up designated smoking areas at least 30 feet away from doors and windows.

The ordinance requires new or renewed lease agreements to include a clause that would prohibit smoking inside units.

(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)

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