Terrace bans smoking indoors

Terrace Club enacted a complete prohibition against smoking and the use of vapor-emitting substances indoors at the behest of the Princeton Health Department, Terrace graduate board chair Sandy Harrison ’74 said.

According to Harrison, a week after The Daily Princetonian published an article on November 24 identifying Terrace as a non-smoke-free building, the Princeton Health Department approached club leadership saying that its smoking policy was not in compliance with New Jersey state law.

Jeffrey Grosser, town health officer, explained that although the investigator did not observe any violations or receive any complaints from the University, the “policy of the club didn’t reflect the [New Jersey] Smoke-Free [Air] Act.”

Although gray areas exist in the law's implications, the act prohibits smoking in indoor work places and facilities open to public activities.

“There have been miscommunications in the past, and some eating clubs believed they were exempt [from the law],” Grosser said, “but we made it clear that even if [Terrace] is private, it still has to comply.”

The club's graduate board subsequently consulted the law and in March installed a new ventilation system in a single room dedicated to smoking, according to a March 23 article in the 'Prince.'

However, the new policy did not satisfy the Health Department. Following an inspection later in the spring semester, the Health Department, according to Harrison, determined that Terrace was still not complying with the New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act, which implied that no smoking or use of vapor-emitting substances is permitted in indoor workplaces.

“It was not a response that we didn’t anticipate,” Harrison said, noting that he had expected a difference of legal interpretation when the issue surfaced in November.

According to Grosser, the Health Department informed the club that it must be in compliance with state laws by May 2015.

“[The process] required education on current policy,” Grosser said. “We first talked to the club manager and then tried to bring education to [club members]. We always want to make sure the laws are enforced from within.”

In an email dated June 26 obtained by the 'Prince,' Terrace president Lucia Perasso '16 informed the membership that Terrace has committed to a smoke-free venue and that the leadership is setting up a specific, comfortable outdoors space for smokers. The new policy is explicitly stated in the Club Rules and Responsibilities document.

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“This is non-negotiable (believe me, we checked),” Perasso wrote. “While this might be hard to stomach for some, it is illegal for us to violate these conditions. If we do, we are subject to hefty fines, which is money detracted from the exquisite food and music to which we have become accustomed.”

Perasso declined to comment. Several Terrace members contacted either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.

The Smoke-Free Air Act stipulates that both people and businesses who fail to comply with the law are subject to a $250 penalty for the first offense; a $500 penalty for the second offense; and a $1,000 penalty for each subsequent offense.

Harrison said it was critical for the club to change its smoking policy to avoid legal consequences in the future. The Health Department recently reviewed Terrace’s new guidelines, and in addition to approving the revised measures, required the club to install signs prohibiting smoking inside the building.

Harrison said he believed that the policy changes will not be severely detrimental to the club culture and solidarity.

“Keep in mind that the majority of students don’t smoke,” Harrison said, “and so far, we have not received any complaints, and I do not anticipate any.”