KTKA

The smoking ban ordinance has some exceptions, meaning you can smoke in private buildings, homes and hotels.

Lee Evans, director of operations at the Country Inn and Suites, said that's not a problem.

He said the problem is having an ordinance that's hard to enforce and understand.

"It's contradictory language," he said.

Evans said it starts on page nine of the ordinance that says smoking is prohibited in hotels and motels, where 80 percent of rooms are available for rent to guests.

"That part of the ordinance is telling me that this hotel should be completely smoke free," he said.

But a couple of pages later, it says smoking is allowed in no more than 20 percent of hotel or motel rooms available to rent to guests, meaning it's not all smoke-free.

Evans took his concern to the city council Tuesday night.

Deputy city attorney Braxton Copley explained the first part, 80 percent, is a jurisdictional issue.

"That structure or facility is going to fall under the ordinance," Copley said.

While the second part meant just what it says, no more than 20 percent of rooms can be smoking.

Evans said he'd prefer it be all or nothing.

Councilman John Alcala asked councilwoman Deborah Swank why she didn't make it 100 percent smoke-free for hotels and motels.

"We want to do something that's passable," Swank said.

"So there are exceptions to safety in this document," said Alcala. "Thank you Deborah."

Swank said she would like to come back in a year to talk about making changes.

"If you care so much about employee health and safety why not go ahead and make it this way now?" Evans said. "Her answer was truly political."

Out of the 58 rooms at the Country Inn and Suites, eight are smoking.

Evans said that's four rooms less than what he's able to have under the newly passed smoking ban.

He said he's not against the ordinance, but it could have used more work.

"A couple of more weeks wouldn't have made that big of a difference," he said.

Another big concern Evans and councilwoman Sylvia Ortiz had was enforcement.

The ordinance puts that responsibility in the hands of the police chief or his designee.

Opponents to the idea say the police department already has enough on its plate.