First came bans in municipal and office buildings, then restaurants and most workplaces.

And soon, puffing a cigarette in Dallas bars and billiard halls could likewise go the way of ashtrays in airplanes as the Dallas City Council agreed Wednesday to vote next week on a long- debated expansion of the smoking ordinance.

But that's about all the council agreed upon: Members remain deeply divided over whether to support the expanded restrictions.

Mayor Tom Leppert, Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia and council members Angela Hunt and Ron Natinsky have supported an expansion of the ordinance, primarily touting the health benefits of all workplaces operating free of secondhand smoke.

"It's time for the city of Dallas to move forward," Dr. Garcia said. "Everybody deserves clean air."

Other council members, including Tennell Atkins, Sheffie Kadane, Jerry Allen and Vonciel Jones Hill, have criticized the proposed expansion as an infringement on personal or business rights. Mr. Kadane last month called it "communistic."

"Banning smoking in bars is a minor issue to y'all. That's my perception, right, wrong or indifferent," Mr. Allen told anti-smoking advocates Wednesday during a sometimes-emotional, three-hour debate. He predicted that Dallas will ultimately move toward even more restrictive smoking ordinances.

Others, such as Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway and council member Dave Neumann, said they've yet to make a final decision on which side to support.

What's certain is that Dallas' proposed smoking ordinance expansion is hardly as sweeping as initially considered.

Next Wednesday, the council is scheduled to vote on a yet-to-be-finalized ordinance that officials say will include banning smoking in bars, billiard halls and within 15 feet of the entrances to most workplaces. The 15-foot buffer zone would not apply to doorways leading to bar, restaurant or billiard hall patios.

Tobacco shops and businesses deemed cigar bars by the city would be allowed to continue operating, status quo.

But broader ideas – such as banning smoking in passenger vehicles where children are present or in city parks or outdoor plazas – never received serious consideration during recent meetings held by a special committee of council members tasked by Mr. Leppert to investigate a smoking ban expansion. They're all but off the table for next week's debate.

During Wednesday's meeting, dozens of opponents and supporters of a smoking ordinance expansion voiced their opinions to council members. Many vowed to be back next week.

There were some unexpected comments – a doctor who asserted that secondhand smoke poses few if any health risks, and a cancer prevention advocate who declined to support a smoking ban in several Dallas venues.

Generally, however, most opponents of a smoking ordinance expansion centered their comments on what they perceive would be the disastrous effect on the finances of bars and pool halls. Others argued along the lines of personal rights.

Advocates of the ordinance expansion touted what they consider the overriding health benefits of clearing indoor workplaces of secondhand smoke.

If the City Council passes a smoking ordinance expansion, it's unclear when it would take effect.

At the least, city staff would need time – perhaps up to a few months – to educate bar and billiard hall owners on the ordinance before enforcing it, interim Assistant City Manager Forest Turner said.

"It'd be an exchange. They'd ask questions; we'd answer them. We'd help educate them on the law," Mr. Turner said.

Before that happens, the council must, of course, vote. The council had previously considered conducting a final vote on Nov. 17 and Wednesday, but instead scheduled public hearings on a smoking ordinance expansion.

And District 5 council member Ms. Hill says the council still may not be ready.

"I hear significant unreadiness around this horseshoe," she said.

Mr. Leppert, though, says he wants to resolve the matter by year's end. And next Wednesday will be the council's final scheduled meeting in December before members recess for a three-week winter break.