Posted on 03/21/2006 4:11:50 AM PST by SheLion
BEAUMONT - Every evening Pat Roy's bar fills up with workers in their boots and overalls who come to enjoy a few drinks and cigarettes.
But if a proposed ban on lighting up in public spaces is approved by the Beaumont City Council, Roy predicts a 50 percent drop in business.
"(The ban) would be devastating," said Roy, the owner of Patrick's Pub.
For many of her customers, smoking and drinking go hand in hand, Roy said. If they cannot smoke in Beaumont, they will start frequenting bars in Nederland or Port Neches, she said.
Roy and about a dozen other bar and restaurant owners - fearing a smoking ban could put them out of business - gathered Sunday to coordinate their opposition.
The city council will hold a public hearing Tuesday on two proposed smoking bans. The strictest proposed ordinance would apply to bars, restaurants, workplaces and most other enclosed spaces accessible to the public.
The other version would allow smoking in bars - defined as establishments that derive at least 70 percent of their revenue from alcohol sales. This proposal also would allow smoking in restaurants if there is a walled-off smoking area with a separate ventilation system.
Even the less restrictive proposal would be a devastating blow to restaurant-bar hybrids like his, said Frank Randazzo, the owner of Madison's.
The filtration devices and smoke-eaters, combined with the building's high ceilings, keeps the air at Madison's clean, Randazzo said, adding he has received only two complaints about the smoke since he opened two years ago.
Supporters of smoking bans in other cities have claimed the ordinance can be a boon to business - bringing in new customers who had previously avoided the nightlife because of the smoke.
But Randazzo does not want to gamble his livelihood on that assumption.
"It's an interesting experiment that nobody is willing to finance," he said.
The stakes for restaurant and bar owners could not be higher, but Roy said she is surprised more are not actively opposing the ban.
At a city council meeting last month where the two ordinance drafts were first presented, supporters of the ban came out in force, but not a single bar owner spoke at the meeting.
The issue came to the forefront last year when the Jefferson County Medical Society endorsed a total ban and urged the council to act.
Second-hand smoke kills 50,000 Americans each year, the group said.
Beaumont's bar and restaurant owners are up against a growing statewide trend. El Paso and Austin have banned smoking in almost all public spaces. An analysis by the state health department shows at least 29 Texas cities have adopted a ban that is at least moderately strict.
But last month the Galveston City Council rejected a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants.
The public hearing on Beaumont's proposed smoking ordinances will begin at 1:30 p.m. at city hall on Tuesday.
I'd love to slap him. What business is it of his if others enjoy smoking? I think he is a miserable slob and needs mommy government to protect him from seeing other smokers.
He's a wimp!
Most people who quit smoking wants it "out of site out of mind," so they won't be tempted. Well, excuse me, but many of us still enjoy smoking. And it's legal. :)
yeah i know, i enjoy it too.. that's the only problem i have when he's there when i'm working. i can't smoke at the bar. *sigh* kinda ridiculous, who ever heard of a bartender that doesn't smoke?
"Mont Cler?"
Beaumonter here.....Moncla's Catering Service
The Moncla's have been serving some of the finest food in S.E. Tx for 50 years or more
Why don't you smoke? Why let the likes of him intimidate you?
he owns the place, he gets to make the rules. i just end up making him do my job for 5-10 minutes while i go to the smoking room and relax :)
aaarrrrgggghhhhhhh sorry. I had it the other way around where YOU were working and HE came on.
Oh well. Sorry.
Yeah! That's the name. It is strange that I would remember
a stand-up take-out meal on an airport runway over ten years ago, but by golly it was good.
Thanks for the ping!
Thanks for the ping!
Beaumont Bans Smoking in Public Places
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
The votes are in and smoking is out. On Tuesday, the Beaumont City Council voted to ban smoking in public places.
The votes of four council members tipped the decision in favor of the total ban. Mayor Guy Goodson and Mayor Pro Tem Audwin Samuel lost their bids for a partial-ban. The total ban means no smoking in public places such as restaurants, bars and workplaces. Also, one cannot smoke within 25 feet of the main public entrance to any venue in which the ban applies.
The ban does not focus solely on bars since the ordinance applies to all public work-places.
Christyn Killian works as a hairstylist at Regis Salons in Parkdale Mall five days a week, and will take about the same number of smoke breaks a day.
When the non-smoking ordinance takes effect, Killian will have to walk further than she normally does for a smoke, about 25 feet further from the door. But she says that is okay. “It’s second-hand smoke, and people who don`t smoke, they don`t appreciate it,” said Killian, “and I understand that.”
But not everyone is so understanding of the ordinance that some believe would remove the relaxation out of places designed to relax, especially some bar-goers.
“It’s a choice,” said Tonjia Chandler of Beaumont, “you have a choice whether to come in here, you know people are gonna smoke and what have you, so that`s your choice.”
The West Bar and Grill said that about 85% of their clientele are smokers, and it worries that some of them may stay away, at least temporarily, when smoking in public places becomes illegal
Owner of The West, Allen Peltier, said that he has been researching the effect of bars in cities that already have similar ordinances. “The way it sounds is that [business] takes a little dive for a while, and people [eventually] come back,” he said. “They`re gonna adapt.”
But if patrons do not adapt, The West said that it is looking into the possibility of becoming a private organization. Until that decision is made, however, they must be ready for the day that indoor smoking moves out-doors.
The so-called total ban comes with several exceptions--private residences, for example, are exempt.
It has been recommended by the city manager that August 1st should be the first day that the ordinance takes effect.
private residences eh?
I guess I should feel grateful that I can smoke in my own home ...
They put a ban on smoking in buisness in greenwood, In. recently. Theres an exemption for bar owners, not pubs, so that no one under 18 can be in the building.
One bar called "That Place", has expanded its hours and opens now at 5:30 or 6 am to serve breakfast. They put out a cheap sign stating smokers welcome for breakfast
The place is packed, all kinds of cars from caddy's to paint wagons.
Given the option the market can take care of itself and address the health concerns of everyone......all it needs is the room to work.
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