Irving, Texas Finally Passes Smoking Ban

After months of postponed votes, Irving, Texas finally voted on a smoking ban. The outcome? Most likely not what either side wanted.

The Irving City Council voted 6-3 in favor of a smoking ban that will outlaw smoking at parks and all restaurants, except for eight restaurants, a bingo hall and hotels. According to The Dallas Morning News, those restaurants received exemptions due to ventilation systems installed and will be grandfathered in. For the 10 restaurants that will now be smoke-free, there will be a six-month period before they must become compliant.

Immediately following the smoking ban, three members of the Board of Health, including the chairman, resigned.

The city has been debating an expansion to the 2006 smoking ban for well over a year. Mayor Beth Van Duyne delayed the vote many times, believed to because of the lack of votes she had in favor of the measure.

Irving is located in Dallas County between Dallas and Fort Worth. It has population of 225,000.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.