Henderson County, NC Bans Smoking Around County Buildings

The Board of Commissioners of Henderson County, NC, modified their existing smoke-free policy on Wednesday, with the result being that smokers will be pushed farther away from the entrances to county buildings, including the county library, Grove Street Courthouse and other public buildings

The change does not create a uniform distance that smokers must stay away from doorways, but rather “we would work with people in those buildings, the leadership, and identify areas that are out of traffic and put together something tasteful that smokers would go to,” County Manager Steve Wyatt told HendersonvilleLightning.com.

Wyatt had presented the board with three options to address what was described as complaints from residents that they were having to walk through clouds of cigarette smoke to reach county buildings. The first was to ban smoking completely on county owned property, the second was to create a smoke-free perimeter and the third was to create designated smoking areas. According to the report, “the board chose the option of limiting smoking to ‘smoking areas located away from entrances and general traffic areas, and (away from areas) where people have to gather while doing business with the county or participating in county activities.'”

Henderson County is located just south of Ashville and borders South Carolina, in the southwestern part of the Tarheel State. It is home to 108,266 residents as of the 2012 census.