UK requests tobacco ban for sidewalks

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On Nov. 19, the only smoke in the air above the sidewalks on the edges of campus may come from the exhaust of construction equipment.

At Tuesday’s Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council meeting, UK Assistant Vice President for Public Safety Anthany Beatty asked the council to sign a memorandum of understanding prohibiting the use of tobacco products on city-owned sidewalks on and surrounding campus.

Beatty said the Tobacco-Free Campus Task Force has been working on the proposal for three or four months. He said the committee wants to find the best way to go about compliance on campus and surrounding areas.

“We just want a policy that works for everyone,” he said.

Diane Lawless, 3rd District councilwoman, said she supports a smoke-free campus but said she needs to determine how members of surrounding neighborhoods feel about the proposed memorandum.

“I’d like to kind of poll the neighborhoods because many of them have said since they heard about that, they’re concerned that people will be walking across the street and smoking in their yards,” Lawless said. “Many of them are like, ‘We don’t want to become UK’s ashtray.’ “

Jeannette Williams, staff to council for the Urban County Council, said the memorandum will go in front of the council at a special meeting on Oct. 27 at 3 p.m.

UK has requested the issue be on the Oct. 27 docket instead of waiting until the Nov. 5 meeting.

Williams said if the proposal is approved after its second reading, then it would be considered law.

As of Oct. 6, 365 colleges and universities nationwide had policies prohibiting smoking on their campuses, according to the Inside Higher Ed Web site.

Bluegrass Community and Technical College, located near UK, implemented a restrictive tobacco initiative on Aug. 15, 2009. According to the BCTC Web site, students and faculty are prohibited from using tobacco products on all owned, operated or controlled BCTC properties, except within a designated outdoor area.