HILTON HEAD ISLAND -- Town officials expect spirited debate during a committee meeting today at which a proposed ban on smoking for all bars, restaurants and workplaces on Hilton Head Island will receive its first public scrutiny.

"I'm anticipating a crowd," said Councilman Bill Mottel, chairman of the Public Safety Committee. "We're going to listen to people, that's for sure."

The committee plans to review the proposed ordinance, discuss legal issues involved and decide if it should endorse it, Mottel said. The committee also will discuss the results of two polls conducted by the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce and the Hilton Head Area Hospitality Association that showed the groups' members who responded were overwhelmingly in support of the idea.

The ordinance that Councilman John Safay proposed this summer is based on a rule that Sullivan's Island approved in May, which made it the first municipality in South Carolina to institute a full ban on smoking in public places.

Meanwhile, Hilton Head's attorney has been studying the proposal to see if it will stand up to legal challenge, town Manager Steve Riley said. The main concern is a lawsuit filed by a bar owner on Sullivan's Island that seeks to overturn the ban.

But the suit shouldn't be much of a problem, Riley said.

"I think the general conclusion is that (Sullivan's Island is) probably going to prevail in the lawsuit," he said.

If the three-member committee endorses the idea, the issue will then go to the full council on Oct. 17, Riley said. The council then will vote on whether to draft an anti-smoking ordinance. If it requests an ordinance, a final vote on the ban probably would come in November, Riley said.

Smoking bans are becoming more common across the country as governments and restaurants yield to public-health concerns. The proposed ban for Hilton Head has gained momentum as Safay has worked during the past few months to sell the idea to the community.

The idea has been endorsed by the hospitality association's board of directors, and 86 percent of the group's members who responded to a survey said they favored the idea.

The issue came up at the chamber of commerce's board meeting Wednesday, but board members are holding off on taking action until an ordinance is drafted, chamber spokeswoman Charlie Clark said.