Two new ordinances changing regulations on electronic cigarette smoking, stench bombs and fencing around swimming pools were introduced at the Bloomington city council meeting Wednesday.
City regulations on smoking have existed for about 40 years and currently ban smoking in certain public places and outdoor areas. The latest proposed ordinance would define electronic smoking devices and ban them in public places and workplaces.
Electronic smoking devices are defined as devices capable of producing inhalable nicotine.
The federal government extended its regulations on smoking in 2016 to include electronic smoking devices. Indianapolis and other cities in the state, as well as Howard County, have similar laws.
The ordinance is designed to deter young adults and teenagers, the age group most likely to use electronic smoking devices, from using them, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The second ordinance also changes city code to stop regulating stench bombs.
The current regulations prohibit the sale, possession or use of any device that omits “noxious or offensive smelling” in the city.
These laws were instated in 1957, and the city does not have any record of a violation of the law.
The ordinance also mandates that swimming pools three feet deep or deeper need to have five-feet-tall fencing surrounding it.
The ordinance would also take away the regulation that all bodies of water need to have such fencing.
The city did not follow its own ordinance because building fences would be expensive, hinder storm water flow and diminish aesthetic value of the area. Removing the ordinance would take away the liability of the city onto anyone who was injured at a public body of water that was not fenced.
The council will vote on these ordinances in the next few weeks.
