Top smoking ban violators in Butler and Warren counties since May 2007
Butler County
Froggy Blues Cafe, 10 American Way, Monroe: Fined $29,100, owes $27,500
Hill Station, 7838 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, West Chester: Fined $19,100, owes $19,000
Coyote Ridge, 1250 Hamilton Lebanon Road, Monroe: Fined $16,600, owes $16,000
Cobblestone Tavern, 4737 Dixie Highway, Fairfield: Fined $9,100, owes $9,100
Fraternal Order of Orioles 193, 3010 S. Main St., Middletown: Fined $9,100, owes $8,500
Maury's Lighthouse Cafe, 6121 Dixie Highway B, Fairfield: Fined $9,100, owes $9,000
Village Tavern, 8123 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, West Chester Twp.: Fined $9,100, owes $9,000
Liberty Inn, 7163 Princeton Road, Liberty Twp.: Fined, $6,600, owes $6,000
Mutt's Brewery Lounge & Restaurant, Wayne Madison Road, Trenton: Fined $6,600, owes $5,000
Scotty's Pub, 22 Donald Drive, Fairfield: Fined $6,600, owes $6,000
Warren County
Landen Sports Cafe, 3221 Montgomery Road, Loveland: Fined $600, owes $100
Chief's Lake, 112 S. Clarksville Road, Clarksville: Fined $100, owes $100
Information from the Ohio Health Department
A handful of area businesses owe tens of thousands of dollars in dozens of unpaid fines for smoking violations, which under a new state initiative could put their liquor licenses at risk in the future when they are up for renewal.
In a precedent-setting move, the Ohio Division of Liquor Control this month denied the liquor permit renewal of the Cincinnati-area business Peg’s Pub on the grounds that it repeatedly disregarded state law by incurring about 18 fines and failing to pay $55,900 they owed, said Jen House, spokeswoman with the Ohio Department of Health.
Until now, Liquor Control never used smoking-ban violations and unpaid fines as criteria when evaluating renewal requests for liquor licenses.
Although no local businesses owe nearly as much in smoking fines as Peg’s Pub in Evendale did, or accumulated as many fines, the Froggy Blues Cafe in Monroe owes $27,500 and Hill Station in West Chester Twp. owes $19,000, according to the state health department’s records. Coyote Ridge in Monroe owes $16,000, and the Cobblestone Tavern in Fairfield owes $9,100, according to state records.
Owners of the Froggy Blues Cafe and Coyote Ridge could not be reached, while owners of Hill Station and the Cobblestone Tavern declined comment.
While the ban may bring in thousands of dollars to the state, some area business owners said enforcing the ban has cost them as well.
The ban went into effect about 11 months after Greg Varacalli opened what was then known as Anthony’s Cigar Bar & Grille in West Chester Twp. Before the ban was put into place, Varacalli said he owned one of the only small businesses that was actually in the black at the end of its first year.
“We were paying the bills ... then we lost 80 percent of our business,” Varacalli said. “I had to reinvent myself as a restaurant/bar.”
Although Varacalli dropped the “cigar” from his business’ name and recognition of quality food is helping recoup the loss, Varacalli said the money he lost was enough to make him think of closing Anthony’s. The state has no record of complaints or fines being issued to Anthony’s.
“I’ve lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s sad,” he said. “I built this place with my own money — not a penny from government subsidization — and with a stroke of a pen, they say I can’t serve tobacco, a legal product. I would’ve never opened a restaurant/bar. I wanted to give people the full experience.”
While Mutt’s Brewery Lounge outside Trenton is listed as owing $5,000 for fines, Donna Williams, wife of owner Mutt Williams, said they will pay the fines, but the enforcement is making it hard to survive.
“We’ve been fined so many times, it’s ridiculous,” she said.
At Mutt’s, the ban is being felt two-fold as well: Williams said enforcing it drives off customers and the business has put in approximately $80,000 into recreational space in the back of the building to draw bargoers outside. There are five non-smoking signs as well.
“Just give me the option to put it on my marquee outside that it’s a smoking establishment,” she said. “If (someone) walked in here after putting in eight hours of work and wanted to drink a couple of beers and smoke a cigarette, I wouldn’t stop him.”
Although Williams said she can understand restaurants enforcing a no-smoking rule, she said a mandate infringes on the rights of small-business owners and, for those who pay the fines, doubling the financial injury the ban caused.
Local public health officials warned area establishments that breaking the law repeatedly could wind up threatening their livelihood, which is alcohol sales.
Explaining the smoking ban when it first came out just over four years ago was pivotal in the low rates of fines issued in Warren County, said Duane Stansbury, county health commissioner.
“Ninety-nine percent of facilities have been compliant with the law,” Stansbury said. “Our focus was to get out there and educate people about it so businesses could make corrections. We said, ‘If you don’t think the law is fair, the best way to fight it in court and fight it with appeals — not breaking the law.’ ”
In recent months, the Department of Health, the Attorney General’s Office and Liquor Control discussed strategies to try to force the worst violators of the smoking ban to either comply with the law or face serious punishment, House said.
The Department of Health sent Liquor Control a certified affidavit listing the fines Peg’s Pub owed, and the division used its authority to reject the pending permit renewal, said Matt Mullins, spokesman for the Division of Liquor Control. Liquor renewals for this part of the state were on June 1.
Mullins said Liquor Control plans to continue to work with the Department of Health and Attorney General’s Office to pursue action against establishments with numerous smoking violations and large amounts of unpaid fines.
House said the liquor licenses of businesses that owe a few thousand dollars and have only a few violations are probably not in danger. But some businesses across Butler and Warren counties have been issued many violations and owe substantial sums.
Since the start of 2011, Butler and Warren counties have issued 19 fine-warranting smoking violations, worth at least $38,000 in total, to local businesses, according to the state records. None have been paid.
Although each successive fine has a corresponding rate, House said authorities may ask for a larger sum if the business is a repeat offender.
In Butler County, at least 10 businesses owe $5,000 or more in fines, according to the state health department records. Conversely, only two businesses have been issued fines for smoking ban violations in Warren County.
The Attorney General’s Office has also filed civil lawsuits in the county court system against some local businesses that owe thousands of dollars in smoking fines.
About 30 businesses in Ohio owe at least $15,000 or more in smoking violation fines, according to Department of Health data. That does not include pending fines or court costs.
Including Peg’s Pub, only nine businesses in Ohio owe $30,000 or more and three owe more than $50,000.
As of July 5, businesses across the state owed $2.5 million in fines, but only paid $1.77 million, according to the state health department.
But Phil Craig, executive director of the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, which represents about 1,000 permit holders, said his organization is reaching out to Liquor Control, the Attorney General’s Office and other agencies to find a better way for them to pursue their goals.
“I am hopeful that we will have some fruitful discussions in the future and come (up) with a better process,” he said.
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