Arlington County Board Chairman J. Walter Tejada just announced his 2008 agenda:banning trans fats, eliminating smoking in public places, and requiring property owners to pay relocation assistance to low-income displaced tenants.
Wondering why Arlington hasn't yet gone smoke-free like its neighbors the District and Montgomery County? It's because Virginia is a "Dillon Rule" state rather than a "Home Rule" state; local governments in Dillon Rule states only have powers that are expressly granted to them by the state, which does not extend to the power to ban smoking. The City of Alexandria, after a vote in June 2007, is trying to use its control over land-use regulation (a power which HAS been granted) to force restaurant owners to go smoke-free.
Residents may remember that in 2006, the Virginia Senate voted to ban smoking in restaurants, but the measure failed in the House of Delegates. No one was really surprised, given that Virginia is home to Phillip Morris and Universal Leaf Tobacco. And, after all, Virginia got its start as a tobacco colony. Governor Timothy Kaine is expected to try again, though, to ban smoking in restaurants during the upcoming session. If either the Governor or County Board is successful, I'm sure lawsuits will follow.
Update 2/16/08: Looks like we'll have to pin our hopes on Arlington County. At the state level, the proposed ban received a predictable blow: a House of Delegates subcommittee unanimously killed legislation.
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Until Virginia gets its act together, people seeking a smoke free night on the town should cross the river in the District of Columbia.
Steve, DC is a good option for smoke-free, and I think the Arlington bars have suffered for it. There are getting to be more and more bars and restaurants in Arlington that are prohibiting smoking on their own though -- right in Clarendon both Liberty Tavern and Restaurant 3 are new additions to the "smoke free" options. The Arlington County Civic Federation also maintains a list of smoke-free restaurants here. It appears now that the Governor is going to make another run at a smoke free law for the whole state, too, so there's another route to which Arlington could go smoke-free.
I know I always forget that they still allow smoking in VA. I am so used to being in DC.