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PHOENIX — State health officials are trying to figure out exactly how far businesses will have to keep employees and customers who smoke from the front door.

Arizona voters approved a ban on smoking in most businesses and other buildings open to the public. Proposition 201 also forbids smoking within a "reasonable distance" of the entrance of these buildings.

The measure, however, does not define exactly what a reasonable distance is.

That leaves the question to the state Department of Health Services. Staffers there are proposing a 15-foot barrier.

But Will Humble, head of the agency's public health section, said that's not necessarily the last word.

"We're looking for public comment on that, everything from business owners to nonsmokers to smokers," he said.

The agency has set up three hearings next month around the state and will be accepting written input.

"We want to get it right," Humble said.

Humble said the health department has looked at what other states with similar smoking restrictions are doing.

He said Colorado has a 15-foot rule. But smokers in Hawaii have to stay 20 feet away from building entrances, with a 25-foot barrier enforced in the state of Washington.

Humble said the rules will apply only to entrances used by the public. He said doors for employee use only will not be covered by the rule.

Whatever distance is selected also will not apply to doorways between patios and the indoor area of bars and restaurants, where the provisions of Proposition 201 do not apply.

But Humble said that doesn't mean business owners won't have to impose some restrictions of their own.

He said the regulations will say smokers have to be far enough away from the doorway so that indoor patrons are not bothered by smoke.