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Judge extinguishes Princeton's strict ban on smoking 

Feinberg's ruling will likely kill plans to adopt similar bans elsewhere. Officials in South Brunswick, Highland Park, Marlboro, Glassboro and Lawrence Township have considered anti-smoking ordinances. . .

Restaurant owners hailed the ruling while anti-smoking advocates said the decision makes it clear that the Legislature must pass stricter measures or free local officials to do so. . .

Ross A. Lewin, the Princeton attorney representing the Virginia- based National Smokers Alliance and three Princeton bar and restaurant owners who challenged the ban, said lawmakers carefully crafted a statute that balances the interests of smokers and nonsmokers, and that the Princeton Regional Health Commission ignored it. ''What you have here is a commission, a law enforcement agency, that chose to ignore the clear constraints of their power. They acted as if they were not bound by state law," said Lewin, noting that state law clearly gives local officials the authority to develop smoking guidelines, but not to impose mandates banning it. . .

''On its face, the ordinance is a near absolute ban that is not guided by fire safety concerns, but is designed to address the deleterious effects of tobacco smoke," Feinberg said. . .

''The public is not going to let the Legislature duck this issue," Conroy said. "People want to have a simple meal in peace without worrying about smoke."

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