Smoking Ban Still An Issue For Area Businesses

By Nancy K. Crevier

On October 1, 2003, Connecticut Public Act 03-04 went into effect, prohibiting smoking in workplaces with five or more employees, and in restaurants and bars in the state. Less than one year later, on April 1, 2004, the smoking ban was expanded to include cafes and taverns, retail food stores, health facilities, state buildings and schools, elevators, and public dormitories. The protection of employees from the risks of second-hand smoke was the primary motivation behind the law. Was that ever an issue for Newtown bars and restaurants, and has the Indoor Air Act affected business?

Mona Lisa’s and Compass, both South Main Street restaurants, find the law does not impact them. Because Compass opened in October 2003, owner Steve Vazzano says that allowing smoking was never an issue.

Says Mr Vazzano, “People still go out to eat. We’ve never lost any customers over the law.” They have had one or two customers sneak a cigarette in the bathroom, but overall, he finds that people have respected the law.

The restaurant business is a high stress business, according to Mr Vazzano, and what many people do when they are stressed, is smoke. It is no different for his employees — the very ones protected by the law. They go out back of the restaurant to smoke.

When the expanded law went into effect last April, bar business may have increased slightly, he notes.

“It kind of evened itself out between bars and restaurants,” he surmises, adding, “It shouldn’t be a law for bars. That’s a different atmosphere, more casual.”

Sam Chowdhury says, “Mona Lisa’s was way ahead of our time. We knew it was coming down.” The Newtown dining establishment has not permitted smoking for 12 years. Fifteen years ago, Mona Lisa’s did have a smoking section at their old location closer to the borough, but the smoking area bothered some customers. When they went smoke free, the restaurant owner received many compliments from his patrons, and actually saw a noticeable increase in business. His employees, whom the law intends to protect, never complained about the smoke. “We may have lost some [customers],” he says, “but we gained many more. We lost one couple who loved to smoke, chain smokers; they don’t come in, but they do order out!”

When the Inn at Newtown on Main Street came under the management of Rich Murdy in 1999, tavern patrons could complement their drinks with a smoke, if they wanted. Cigarettes and cigars were allowed in the downstairs bar, Proud Mary’s, which opened in 2002 prior to the enactment of the 2003 law. At the request of his employees, ventilation equipment was installed above the bar. Wait staff, retrieving drink orders from the service bar, did not want to return to the tables smelling of smoke. Partitions divided the bar area from the dining space in the tavern, but smoke still leaked into the eating area.

The law has made this manager’s job easier. When he has had to approach customers who light up, apparently unaware of the law, he finds that they usually understand. “The new law gave diners a more enjoyable experience,” he says. “It creates a nicer environment for the nonsmoker. The place stays cleaner with no smoke.”

Longtime bar customers at My Place on Queen Street wanted smoking, and while “put out” by it, were pretty accommodating when the law went into effect, says owner John Tambascio. Up until 2003, the restaurant allowed smoking in the bar, but not the dining room. Drifting bar smoke was a problem, he admits, and My Place saw a rise in business once smoking was abolished in the entire establishment.

The owners of a 20-year institution in Newtown, the Fireside Inn located on South Main Street, find that the state ruling is definitely an inconvenience for their customers. Donald Pulieri and Josie Ricciardi have many customers who are not happy to have to go outside to smoke. The large, horseshoe bar is isolated from, but not separate from, the restaurant, and occasionally people would complain about the drifting smoke, says Mr Pulieri. Their employees, however, never complained about the air quality.

Since October of 2003, Mr Pulieri and Ms Ricciardi have noticed that their bar business is off a little bit.

“Maybe bar customers don’t stay as long. They might not stay that extra half hour to have another drink,” Mr Pulieri says, indicating this is because they cannot have a cigarette at the bar. “The law should not apply to the bars.”

Bill Picirillo, who operates Hot Shots on South Main Street and Hot Shots Grille on Route 6, agrees 100 percent. The smoking ban may have helped the restaurant business at the Grille, but Hot Shots has been hurt tremendously, he said. Bar business at the South Main Street location has been off 25–30 percent since April 2004. A lot of his customers go the local VFW now, where they can enjoy a cigarette with their afternoon beer.

“The law needs to be fair,” he states, calling attention to the fact that private clubs and casinos are exempt from this law. “It’s sad they make a law to protect employees, but employees can go work in private clubs where they are subjected to smoke. Where is the fairness? What is the point?”

The quiet bar of The Firehouse Eatery and Tavern on Glen Road is adjacent to the dining room, one reason Rich Barillari, owner since April 2004, would never have allowed smoking, regardless of the law. “It doesn’t belong in a restaurant,” he says.

Dave and Carol, who are at the bar one chilly, gray afternoon, might agree with that, but says Dave, “Smoking and nonsmoking areas should work. I liked smoking and drinking at the bar when I was a smoker. I don’t think people who smoke should be treated as pariahs.”

Carol, who gave up smoking 29 years ago for personal reasons, agrees. She is not bothered by second-hand smoke, and it bothers her that people do not have the right to decide for themselves.

Mr Barillari has had customers confess that they would come in more often if they could smoke, and he feels that his bar business could be better if smoking were allowed. But if a law exists, it should be obeyed. His bar customers sometimes need to be reminded of the no smoking law, and he wonders, who is ultimately responsible for enforcing it? And is it being uniformly enforced?

The Firehouse Eatery owner is not the only business owner in town to wonder that. As far as Rich Murdy (Inn at Newtown) knows, no one has ever checked that he conforms to the law. Without anyone ensuring compliance or inspections, is it an unenforceable law?

“It’s incumbent upon those with knowledge of the infraction to notify the police,” says Chief Michael Kehoe of the Newtown Police Department. “Constructive knowledge would lead to spot checking of smoking and we could take action against lawbreakers.” That would mean a ticket or warning issued to the customer who is smoking in an establishment deemed nonsmoking by the law.

Who should be enforcing the law, if it needs to be enforced, and if all establishments are complying may be moot points if Representative Leonard Greene, R-Beacon Falls, has his way. He has introduced a bill to repeal the statewide ban of smoking in restaurants and bars. With the huge RJReynolds tobacco company backing a nonprofit Connecticut organization, Smoke Signals Coalition, radio spots and direct mailings will encourage support of Mr Greene’s bill.

Mr Greene’s proposal would permit smoking and nonsmoking sections in large bars and restaurants, and in establishments smaller than 2,000 square feet or small neighborhood bars in which food sales are 30 percent or less of total revenue, smoking would be permitted. A $250 smoking permit would be required, as well as smoke barriers and a ventilation and purification system. Employees would not have to work in smoking areas if it is against their wishes, with penalties being imposed upon any employer who forces them to do so.

A November 2003 survey by Quinnipiac University in Hamden indicated that 56 percent of Connecticut residents supported the statewide ban on smoking in restaurants. Only 36 percent supported a complete ban on smoking in bars, though, and 38 percent felt that bars should have designated smoking rooms.

For now, employees in Newtown and other Connecticut cities can breathe easily. The Clean Indoor Air Act remains a fact of life for restaurant and bar owners in our state.