THE ISSUE
The Village Board reversed a recent decision by amending the fire code to allow smoking shelters outside bars and restaurants.

OUR VIEW
Supporting local merchants is important, but the back-peddling on this issue doesn’t make sense.

SPEAK UP
Should the Carol Stream Village Board have amended the fire code to allow smoking shelters? Tell us what you think of this by leaving a comment below. You can also e-mail your comment here. Or leave a voice message at (630) 368-8882.

Village officials in Carol Stream are having a difficult time defining the word “safety.”

In May, trustees approved language in the village’s fire code prohibiting public smoking in “tents, canopies or other membrane structures.” But last week, the board voted to amend the fire code and allow smoking in temporary structures — such as tents, canopies or other membrane structures.

Bob Sabalaskey, owner of Flip Flops Tiki Bar, has set up a temporary structure as a smoking shelter for his customers during the past two winters. Since Jan. 1, 2008, the Illinois Smoke Free Act has prohibited smoking inside public places like restaurants and bars. Merchants must use structures separate from their main business facilities to accommodate smokers, according to state law.

Sabalaskey asked the Carol Stream Village Board to amend its fire code and allow him to continue using a temporary structure for his smoking customers, and the board gave Sabalaskey the go-ahead. The amended fire code allows smoking in temporary structures, defined as those used no more than 180 days of the year and no larger than 120 square feet.

Granted, the amendment requires temporary structures to be made of fire-retardant material. It also mandates that the shelter have at least one portable fire extinguisher, that employees be trained on how to use the portable fire extinguisher, and that the shelter have no heating or lighting equipment.

Don Lay, director of fire prevention for Carol Stream, urged trustees in a letter not to allow smoking in “tents or fabric structures regardless of size.”

Yes, village officials have an interest in seeing that businesses are not overly burdened by municipal and state laws. The General Assembly should not have interfered with local issues by passing the Illinois Smoke Free Act.

But what’s done is done. Carol Stream trustees believed that the language added to the fire code in May was necessary to ensure public safety, and it’s uncertain why they’ve back-peddled on this. They should decide what they mean by safety and stick with it.