It took a year, but a small group of angry Aspinwall residents has received an encouraging response in its fight against one of Pittsburgh's most powerful corporations, UPMC.

About 15 families on Delafield Road and Lexington Avenue have protested UPMC St. Margaret's smoke-free policy since it was instituted last year. The policy prevents all staff, patients and visitors from smoking anywhere on the hospital's campus. Instead, smokers walk to Delafield Road and Lexington Avenue -- two residential streets bordering the hospital -- for their cigarette breaks.

Residents characterize it as a "nearly constant" flow of smokers near their property, who often discard their cigarette butts on sidewalks or lawns. The group protested throughout the past year, started a Web site, and sent letters to the hospital's administration.

On Sept. 3, Joe Noro, president of the Aspinwall council; Ed Warchol, the municipal manager, and four residents met with St. Margaret's CEO David Martin, and Doug Harrison, the hospital's executive of operations.

"It is an ongoing situation, but we are working together as a group to identify solutions for both parties," Mr. Harrison said. "We will spend the next 30 days trying to find a positive solution."

Mr. Harrison added that the hospital is considering designating a smoking area off hospital grounds near Waterworks Mall and away from Delafield and the residential neighborhood.

That change would force smokers to walk even farther away from the hospital's main building, but the administration stands firm in its no-smoking policy.

"We are a health center, and we are here to promote health for all people," Mr. Harrison said. "Being smoke-free is extremely important."

The UPMC response comes after months of complaints from residents. They placed numerous signs on their lawns to air their grievance, the largest one said, "UPMC hear this, Aspinwall is not your ashtray."

"We feel like the little guy," said Dr. Amy Gennari, who lives on Lexington with her husband and their two children. "UPMC is not being a good neighbor. They always say they want to be a good neighbor, and they're not."

Dr. Gennari is a physician at another UPMC facility.

The residents say they are not trying to mount an antismoking campaign. They only object to the UPMC rules and the resulting presence of smokers on or near their property.

"Our issue is not with the smokers," said James Froelich, who lives with his wife and two children on Delafield Road. "It is with the blanket policy that has been laid down by UPMC that has driven the smokers off the property. The smokers do not want to be there any more than we want to have them."

Michael Bell, an intervention specialist at St. Margaret's who walks to Delafield for his cigarette breaks, echoed that sentiment.

"All the smokers are frustrated. We feel really bad for the neighbors, but there's nowhere else to go," he said.

Mr. Bell said that it takes him about five minutes to walk to Delafield from the hospital floor where he works. Walking to the other bordering streets would take even longer, he said.

Mr. Froehlich said the residents' greatest concern is not the hospital workers -- who are typically courteous and smoke only on breaks -- but rather visitors who smoke at all hours and the patients who are sometimes wheeling an IV and dressed only in a hospital gown.

Before the latest meeting, the hospital had placed one garbage bin on the hospital side of Delafield Road but had taken no other significant step to resolve the issue.

Mr. Warchol, the municipal manager, said the massive scope of UPMC's operations makes it difficult for the company to deal with isolated local issues.

"I don't think a UPMC board member wants to be bothered with this," he said.

Still, Mr. Noro, the council president, said that he thought the Sept. 3 meeting went well.

"My goal is to relieve Delafield Road of smokers entirely," he said. "That's my biggest thing, to get the smokers away from their property and to get the cigarette butts off the ground."

Dr. Gennari said the situation became so serious because the streets are "densely populated," and the workers' cigarette breaks often coincide with the time of day when children are dropped off by their school busses.

It got so bad, she said, that children began to ask their parents why doctors smoke so often.