Smoking ban turns streets of Ashland, Ore., into giant ashtray

ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) — A downtown business owner wants Ashland to install ashtrays on every downtown block to combat the cigarette butts that have carpeted sidewalks since a statewide smoking ban went into effect Jan. 1.

Ron Roth, owner of Geppetto's restaurant, arrived at this month's Planning Commission meeting with a grocery bag and a large tin can full of cigarette butts that he had swept up since the state banned smoking in bars.

"Before it was just a minor eyesore, it wasn't a big deal — but thousands of cigarette butts do become a big deal," Roth said.

Geppetto's is next to Beau Club, a bar that used to allow smoking. Now, patrons light up outside. The new law bans people from smoking outside within 10 feet from doors or windows, a regulation that many don't follow downtown because it usually means standing in the street, Roth said.

"We should have ashtrays and they should be supplied and maintained by the city," he said while sweeping up more cigarette butts on a recent afternoon.

Besides the aesthetic problem of litter, Roth said he worries the cigarette butts are harming the environment.

"If we had substantial rain, this would all flow down into Bear Creek," he said. "I've always been a fish hugger and my little fishy friends down in the creek don't need to have cigarette butts floating down in there."

City Administrator Martha Bennett told the Ashland Daily Tidings that officials plan to discuss the litter and ashtray issue at an upcoming meeting. Bennett, however, doubts that officials will line the streets with ashtrays, saying such an act could be seen as supportive of smoking.

Business owners should install their own ashtrays, sweep the sidewalks in front of their storefronts and tell their patrons not to litter, Bennett said.

"The issue of cigarette butts on the sidewalks has been with us for a long time. I think this issue just got worse but I don't think it's a new issue," she said.

John Vroegindewey, a bartender at Beau Club, said lawmakers and city officials should have considered the butt issue before the ban took effect. He said the increased litter doesn't bother him or the owner of the bar.

"My reaction is: I don't care," Vroegindewey said. "I used to throw them away in ashtrays but I'm not going to go outside and sweep up. It's not my job."

(Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.)