Businesses adapting to state smoking ban

Friday, May 23, 2008

Most restaurants and bars could not apply until April 1 after they had two months experience with the regulation, but more than a month later, state and local health officials said they have received just a handful of exemption applications and few complaints of violations.

Five applications have been logged statewide, said Clifford S. Mitchell, director of environmental health coordination for the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

But the majority of eating, drinking establishments and social halls seem to be holding their own or attracting customers they did not have before the ban, he said, adding that most states with smoking bans have had similar experiences.

‘‘Remember,” Mitchell said, ‘‘most of the American population now doesn’t smoke.”

Most of Maryland’s 24 local jurisdictions have received no applications for waivers, which, if granted, would ease smoking restrictions on establishments until Feb. 1, 2011.

Montgomery, Prince George’s, Charles, Howard and Talbot counties banned smoking in restaurants and bars before the state passed its law last year. Baltimore’s ban went into effect Jan. 1.

Two applications for waivers were received by the Charles County Department of Health, said Bill Leebel, public information officer for the department.

The waiver for the Waldorf establishment — Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8810 — was sent to DHMH for review and a decision will be made by July, Mitchell said.

Leebel would not say who is the other establishment, based in Indian Head, because it must add more information to its waiver application before the health department will send it to the state.

‘‘We kind of expected it would happen. A lot of the businesses found ... initially, there’s a drop in business, but in three to six months it bounces back,” Leebel said.

The Calvert County Health Department has not received any requests for waivers.

‘‘In my own visits I have had a couple of managers tell me they have seen an increase [in business],” said Dan Williams, deputy health officer for Calvert County, where tobacco ties run so long and deep that its flag features a tobacco leaf.

In St. Mary’s County, operators of the Mechanicsville Moose Lodge were denied a waiver based on their claim that they would not recover what they spent on a new heating and cooling system designed to better eliminate smoke.

Still, residents of that once tobacco-rich county are adapting to the change, said Karen Russell, St. Mary’s wellness and health promotion program manager.

‘‘I see people sitting in [restaurants’] bars having a drink who would never have gone in there before,” she said.

But bars are faring worse than restaurants with bars, said Melvin Thompson, lobbyist for the Restaurant Association of Maryland.

Many Southern Maryland establishments have gone to county liquor boards to request an extension of premises to include outdoor seating to accommodate smoking patrons as a way to retain business.

Since January, Charles County has received about a half dozen requests that were all approved, according to Lisa Bailey, administrator for the Charles County Board of License Commissioners.

Jimmie’s Paddock in White Plains was one of the businesses whose request was granted.

‘‘In the wintertime when it’s raining or snowing, we feel like for the customer’s convenience and comfort that we should have a shaded area where they’re out of the sun or out of the rain. With minimal costs, we hope they’ll still continue to come out and be customers instead of go home,” said Jimmy Mills, manager of the bar and liquor store.

Its covered outdoor area includes four picnic tables.

‘‘The customers have had some positive comments. I think we spent money to keep the customers we had. I’d be surprised if anyone said it wasn’t beneficial at all,” Mills added

The St. Mary’s liquor board has granted 11 requests for outdoor smoking areas, mostly for bars and taverns since rumors started brewing early in 2007 that a smoking ban was in the works.

There have not been any applications for extension of premise permits in Calvert County, said Marshall Gibson, chair of the Calvert County Board of Liquor License Commissioners.

Frederick County’s health department has received no waiver requests; in Carroll County, only the Crossroads Inn has requested one.

‘‘I thought there would be a lot more resentment, particularly from fraternal organizations,” said Robert McClain, division chief of food protection in the Wicomico County’s health department. The county has received no waiver applications and just two complaints of violations.

While dining-focused establishments have not complained much, Thompson said, neighborhood bars, particularly in Baltimore, say they have seen as much or more than the 15 percent drop in revenue needed to qualify for a waiver.

Poncabird Pub owner Richard Frankton said revenues at his Fells Point bar were down 13 percent in February and 14 percent in March.

He said he wishes the review focused on units sold rather than revenues because costs and prices have increased. Still, he said, he knows officials can argue that the economy, not the smoking ban, has hurt his business.

That aside, Frankton said he applied for a safety waiver from Baltimore’s government because patrons of his upstairs business who have had a few drinks are not particularly sure-footed navigating 25 steps they must descend to smoke a cigarette.

The city turned down his request, so Frankton said he is going to try to build a second-floor smoking deck.

Thompson said other business owners may have just begun grappling with fallout from the ban.

‘‘A lot of people are just starting to see the effects — customers go through an adjustment period,” Thompson said.

Thompson and some health officials said the waiver application itself could be a deterrent because it is long and requires divulging a lot of financial information and the relief is only temporary.

‘‘I think people have bitten the bullet and realized they can do it now or do it later,” said Michael McIntyre, Somerset County’s environmental health director.

‘‘Once they see the waiver, I think they say, ‘I’m not going to undertake that,’” said Brian Dicken, director of environmental health for Allegany County.

Dicken said he has heard that most establishments are seeing more patrons, not fewer. ‘‘I hear, ‘Now I can take my kids to bingo and not worry about smoke,’” he said.