Portsmouth votes to request state's OK for smoking ban

Publication Date: 2007-11-28

• Author:MEGHAN HOYER
• Publication:The Virginian-Pilot

The City Council agreed Tuesday to ask the General Assembly for the ability to prohibit smoking in restaurants.

Council members said they weren't sure they would eventually enact the ban but that they wanted to become part of a regional discussion about the issue.

"If we're going to do it, it needs to be done as a region," Councilman Bill Moody Jr. said. "Ultimately, I think it's probably the right thing to do, but that's the only way I would support it, if it was done regionally."

Because of state law, cities must get approval from the state legislature before enacting a smoking ban. Virginia Beach and Norfolk both have taken similar measures in recent months.

If the General Assembly approves, Portsmouth's council could start considering the issue next summer.