St. Peters Aldermen Consider Crack Down on Spitting; St. Louis Has Had Law Since 1948

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Under an ordinance being considered in St. Peters it would still be permissible to hawk a loogie in a trash can, toilet or sink in City Hall. Just don't try the same on the floor, furniture and walls. 

The bill would also ban spitting on sidewalks that abut city buildings.

Why the need for such a law? Because, per the language in the bill, "spitting and expectorating on public buildings may potentially deface such buildings" and "creates a potential health and sanitation hazard to persons utilizing such buildings."

Lisa Bedian, a spokeswoman for the city, tells Daily RFT that its unclear at this point whether aldermen will adopt the bill as law. "It's just something that's been brought up and is under discussion," she says.

St. Peters will hardly be the first city in the nation to enact a ban on spitting. St. Louis has had a more expansive spitting law on the books since 1948, prohibiting spitting on upon the floor or sides of any railroad car, streetcar, or motor bus; the platform, steps or walls of any public building (including churches and theaters); and upon any sidewalk or upon any walk in any park or public.

A somewhat similar law in New York has been on the books for 114 years, drafted during the days of tuberculosis outbreaks. Last year a teen in Ohio was fined $226 for spitting on sidewalk in Ohio. Chicago repealed an ordinance banning all spitting on city streets in 1997.