Mayor Street said yesterday that the city will begin enforcing the new smoking-ban law "immediately," a development that caught a number of bar and restaurant operators by surprise.
"We can't pick and choose when we enforce the law," Street said. "When a law is passed and it says 'immediate,' then immediate is immediate... . We are going to enforce the bill and we will enforce it according to its terms."
What that means is that the city will start accepting citizen complaints at the city's environmental-health complaint line, 215- 685-7495.
Said City Solicitor Romulo Diaz Jr.: "We will begin to accept complaints immediately. Health inspectors will respond to the complaints. On the first violation, we will be issuing a warning notice. On the second violation, the fines are $25."
Thereafter, the fines can rise to $300 per incident.
This seems like a bit much given how long Street sat on the bill before signing it.
Anyway, as I've written before I think that on balance this is a good thing though I'm sympathetic to the opposing view.
Fight away!