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Smoking ban runs wild
by Lindsay Sandham
The Metropolitan
Several cities and counties throughout Colorado have banned smoking in bars and restaurants. The issue was proposed and denied in Denver last July, but remains a concern for some residents.
Longmontís ordinance, effective Jan.13, is the most recent of a slew of smoking bans.
The Longmont ban eliminates smoking in all public establishments, but it permits smoking in open outdoor patios.
Allison Anthony, a bartender at McCarthyís pub in Longmont, said the recent ban has affected their business a little, but they have been very accommodating to smokers by installing heaters on the back patio.
Smokers and restaurant owners who break the ordinance face fines of anywhere from $35 to $500, depending on the situation and the history.
Longmontís Public Information Officer Rigo Leal said, in the two weeks since the ban took effect, they have not issued any fines or run into any problems.
ìPeople have really accepted it and the restaurant owners that Iíve talked to are in favor and have fully embraced it,î Leal said.
He added that he thinks the pro-active approach Longmont took worked really well.
They developed a brochure explaining the ordinance in detail and mailed it to all local bars and restaurants before the ban was implemented.
The same brochure is available online.
With the number of bans increasing and moving closer and closer to Denver, the issue continues to be a controversy in the metro area.
Denver City Council district 3 representative Rosemary Rodriguez said there is no current proposal underway to try once again to pass the ban.
She also said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper would only support a ban if it was on a regional basis, meaning if all surrounding counties were to pass bans.
ìHe (Hickenlooper) believes it would have an adverse effect on local business,î Rodriguez said.
She also said she believes she is the only new council member who would support such a proposal.
ìItís the people who have to work in the smoke that I worry about,î Rodriguez said.
Kathleen MacKenzie, Denver City Council district 7 representative, was a council member when the proposal failed.
Although she voted in favor of the ban, she believes the members who voted against it did so out of concern for local businesses.
ìI think the best way to go is an initiated proposal,î MacKenzie said.
She said if the people for a smoke-free Colorado were to collect at least 5,000 signatures on a petition, the issue would automatically go on the ballot and would be left up to the voters to decide.
Boulder started Coloradoís no-smoking trend in 1995 when it passed an ordinance which prohibits smoking in all public places, except open outdoor patios and separate ventilated rooms.
Dolores Madrid, central records assistant for the city of Boulder, said she thinks there are still proponents for both sides, but it is not really much of an issue anymore.
Louisville, a neighboring community to Boulder, put a smoking ban into effect more than two years ago.
Louisville Mayor Charles Sisk said when it passed it was one of the most stringent smoking ordinances at the time.
According to the Louisville ordinance, it is illegal to smoke on any premise that serves food and alcohol, even those with outdoor patios.
Unlike Boulder, In Louisville an establishment cannot section-off a separately ventilated area for smokers.
Although Sisk is ecstatic with the way the ban is working, he said it has negatively affected some bars and restaurants, but no restaurant has closed directly because of the ban.
He added he thinks some bars and restaurants have even gained new customers since becoming non-smoking.
Avril Charnley, owner of the bar Druidís Arms in Louisville, said business has improved since the ban took effect.
She said their food sales have increased tremendously.
ìYou know smokers, they donít mind going outside for a cigarette,î Charnley said.
She also said they are getting new customers all the time and they love it, because they donít have to go home smelling like an old ashtray.
Another recent ban took effect Dec. 4 in Greeley.
The Greeley ban permits smoking outdoors in an open patio area, but does not allow business proprietors to section-off a separate ventilated room for smokers.
Greeley City Clerk Betsy Holder said she believes the ban has been well received overall, though there are certainly some members of the community who strongly oppose it.
ìWeíve heard from some businesses that it has negatively affected them,î Holder said.
She added that itís difficult to measure the financial impact on local bars and restaurants so soon after the ordinance had been implemented.
Mike Covalt, an employee at Big Daddyís bar in Garden City, said they have retained more of their regular clients who used to frequent other places as well.
He also said that they have not necessarily picked up any new customers as a result of the ban in Greeley, which is less than a mile down the road.
Judy Vasquez, an employee of the Red Garter Lounge in Greeley, said she thinks nighttime business has been negatively affected and customers are frequenting establishments in Evans and Garden City where they are free to smoke.
Greeley Club Venture Ltd., the Texas-based company that owns the Cactus Canyon bar in Greeley, has challenged the ban in federal court.
The company claims the ban violates the First Amendment by preventing smokers from gathering and that it was based in part on faulty scientific evidence of the dangers of secondhand smoke.
Currently, the towns surrounding Greeley are not smoke-free, but Holder said she would not be surprised if communities such as Evans, Garden City and Windsor find proposals similar to Greeleyís on the April ballots.
In Pueblo, the smoking issue has been a controversy for more than a year.
A no-smoking ordinance, which took effect Jan.1, 2003, was first passed by the city council in Dec. 2002.
According to Puebloís referendum process, within 30 days of a proposal being passed, a petition requiring 15 percent of the total vote cast in the last general election may be circulated. Gina Dutcher, city clerk for Pueblo, said a petition was circulated and 3,322 signatures were collected; the ban was suspended in Feb. 2003.
ìIt didnít really stop there, either,î Dutcher said.
She said some of the pro-smokers were irritated and wanted to recall four of the city council members who originally passed the ban.
A special municipal election was held May 20, 2003, and voters were allowed to vote on the smoking ban and the recall.
The people voted, and the ordinance once again took effect. One of the four council members was recalled, but according to Dutcher there were issues aside from the smoking ban that may have caused the recall.
The pro-smokers did not give up there. They circulated another petition to amend the ordinance on the November ballot. They wanted the ordinance to be more lenient and allow restaurants with less than 60 percent of their sales in food to have a smoking section. The issue went to ballot and failed.
ìThe smokers messed up by asking for 60 percent,î Dutcher said. She added that they might have prevailed had they asked for something much loweró like 25 or 30 percent.
ìItís a unique issue, because both sides are so passionate,î Dutcher said. ìNeither side wants to compromise.î
Puebloís ordinance permits smoking outside in a fenced-off patio area, but smokers must be 20 feet from the establishment. This requires some businesses to modify their liquor license in order to serve alcoholic beverages outdoors.
Dutcher said the health department is responsible for enforcing the regulation and up until the first of this year they were only issuing warnings. Now, smokers and bar owners who break the law may be fined up to $300.
ëItís the people who have to work in the smoke that I worry about.í
óRosemary Rodriguez
Denver City Council District 3
Representitive
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