Opinion ID: 2346650
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Smoking in eating and drinking establishments

Text: (a) Smoking Prohibited. A person must not smoke any tobacco product in any eating and drinking establishment licensed under Chapter 15 of the County Code. The owner or person in control of the establishment must refuse to serve or seat any person who smokes, and must direct the person to leave if the person continues to smoke after proper warning.    (b) Exception. This regulation does not apply in the bar or dining area of any eating and drinking establishment that: (1) is a club as defined in the state alcoholic beverages law, (2) has an alcoholic beverages license issued to private clubs under the state alcoholic beverages law, and (3) allows consumption of alcoholic beverages on its premises. The purported legal basis for Resolution 14-70 was set forth in the Resolution, and states in pertinent part as follows: Maryland Code Health-General Article § 3-202(d) authorizes the County Council, sitting as the County Board of Health, to adopt rules and regulations regarding any nuisance or cause of disease in the County. Following the adoption of the Resolution, the respondents, Anchor Inn Seafood Restaurant, numerous other restaurants located in Montgomery County, restaurant owners and employers (collectively referred to as Anchor Inn) and the City of Gaithersburg, filed in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County these declaratory judgment actions challenging the validity of the Resolution. After cross-motions for summary judgment, the Circuit Court entered a judgment declaring the Resolution invalid. In a separate opinion accompanying the declaration that the Resolution was invalid, the Circuit Court delineated five alternative grounds for its decision. First, the court held that, under state law, the County Council did not have the authority to sit as the Board of Health without the participation of the County Executive. Second, the Circuit Court held that the Resolution was preempted by Maryland Code (1992, 1998 Repl.Vol.), § 2-105(d) of the Business Regulation Article. Third, the court concluded that the County Council, purporting to sit as an administrative agency, failed to comply with the Montgomery County Administrative Procedure Act. Fourth, the court took the position that the Resolution violated the separation of powers provisions in the Montgomery County Charter. Fifth, the Circuit Court held that the Resolution violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the equal protection principle embodied in Article 24 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. Montgomery County filed a notice of appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, and then petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari prior to any proceedings in the Court of Special Appeals. We granted the certiorari petition, Montgomery County v. Anchor Inn, 361 Md. 433, 761 A.2d 932 (2000), and we shall affirm.