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Some bar owners irked about smoking ban, but state says most comply
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Sunday, December 23, 2007
Talk to proprietors who have amassed a pile of smoking complaints, and they'll tell you the state indoor smoking ban is really hurting business.
Jo Risk, owner of BoJangles in West Carrollton, said her business dropped by half after the ban went into effect and she — unlike some competitors — removed ashtrays and tried to obey the law. She also created a heated, covered outdoor space for smokers.
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It didn't work. "I couldn't do anything," Risk said. "People wanted to smoke."
Even after she stopped objecting to customers smoking, Risk said her business is still down by 35 percent from last year.
Part of the problem is the local economy, she said, but part of it is that her competitors aren't following the law.
She doesn't think the law's enforcement is fair. "The people who do the most business are the ones who are going to pay the most penalty," she said. "These smaller bars where everybody smokes and nobody tells on them, they're not going to pay.
"So where do I go from here? I can't see an answer."
Jerry Gabbard, administrator of the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge 501 in Middletown, said the smoking ban has been hard on everyone.
"From what I understand, it about put everybody out of business here in Middletown," said Gabbard, who manages the state's leading target of smoking complaints. "That's the feedback I'm getting from other businesses. And I'm hearing that from just about everywhere in the state."
But not every bar owner agrees and state officials point out that numbers show most establishments are voluntarily obeying the law.
The 19,000-plus complaints phoned in during the first seven months against 7,300 establishments seems like a big number, said Kristopher Weiss, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health. But even if every one of those complaints could be proven to be a true violation, he said, that is still a tiny fraction of the estimated 280,000 public places or employers covered by the law.
"What those numbers are saying to us is that the vast majority are complying, and are doing so voluntarily," Weiss said.
One of those is Dave Boston.
The owner of Boston's Bistro & Pub on North Main Street in Harrison Twp., said the ban "worked out perfect for me."
When he lost his lease and moved out of downtown in 2004, Boston said he wanted to go non-smoking but was advised not to. He was afraid customers wouldn't follow him if he cut out indoor smoking.
Then the smoking ban passed. "As soon as it was voted in, I immediately had a sign out saying I had a smoking environment outside, that I was going to support the smoking ban, and that non-smokers were welcome as well as smokers," he said.
Like other clubs, Boston created a sheltered, heated space for smokers outside, which he calls his "Butt Bungalo." He also has an outdoor beer garden area.
A lot of owners have "raised the bar" for everyone by creating outdoor spaces for smokers, Boston said. His business, which has not received a single complaint, was hurt some at first by proprietors who didn't follow the law, he said, but sales are now back to where they were a year ago. And Boston said he's drawing new customers who don't want to go home "smelling like ashtrays."
In the end, Boston said, he thinks enforcement will create an even playing field for establishments like his and Risk's.
"It's all going to balance out," he said. "I'm not going to play any games with the law. I'm just going to abide by it and let God take care of how my business goes."