Chance to light up going up in smoke

Local and area bar owners are waiting for the hammer to drop Jan. 1.

That's when they enter the brave, new smokeless world. Gov. Rod Blagojevich recently signed the statewide nonsmoking ban, which takes effect New Year's Day.

Urbana had a jump-start on the statewide law; the city's nonsmoking law for bars, restaurants and other businesses went into effect this year. So by the time the statewide law becomes effective, bar owners in Urbana will have had a year to deal with the nonsmoking ordinance.

The statewide law supersedes local law. One of the main differences is the distance a smoker must position himself or herself from an entry. In Urbana, the distance is 6 feet. The state law restricts smoking to at least 15 feet from an entry. Also, employers and business owners must post "no-smoking" signs at every entrance and remove all ashtrays from the establishment.

For people who decide to light up in a bar after Jan. 1, the fine will be at least $100 and no more than $250. For a bar or restaurant owner who allows smoking in a business, the fine is at least $250 for the first violation; $500 for the second violation if it occurs in the same calendar year; and no less than $2,500 for each subsequent violation that occurs in the same calendar year.

Champaign, meanwhile, had a local smoking ban that started Jan. 31. However, the city council repealed the ordinance in mid-May for bars and private clubs, while keeping the ban in effect for restaurants. Most Champaign bars allow smoking, but several in the downtown area, like Jupiter's, Guido's and Boltini's, have remained smoke-free. The Esquire Lounge decided to go back to allowing smoking – sort of. The bar allows smoking in half of its bar area, and then only after lunch at 1:30 p.m.

"We did wrestle with it. We took a vote, and that's what we came up with," said Bob Osiek, who owns the bar with partners Pedro Heller and Joe Donahue. "To be honest, I was one of the naysayers. I thought this would devastate our business. I'm ecstatic that I was wrong."

For the Esquire, what the three-month-old smoking ban did was "rearrange our business. Our 5 to 7 p.m. happy hour was off Monday to Thursday. Our late nights Sunday through Thursday were off. But our Friday and Saturday nights were busier. Overall, our business remained about the same, we just became more Friday- and Saturday-oriented."

And largely because of that experience, Osiek says he and the other owners know what to expect when the state law goes into effect. He won't mind going back to being a nonsmoking bar, although philosophically he disagrees with the government decision to regulate smoking in a private business.

"I will tell you one positive thing the ban did. The environment in here is a ton better. Working in a nonsmoking environment is more pleasant than working in a smoking environment," said Osiek, who enjoys the occasional cigar.

For Urbana bar owners, the law has affected their business to varying degrees, depending on the type of customer the business catered to. For those bars with a blue-collar customer base, the ban has hurt them more severely.

"I've had to lay off employees, I've lost business. We were down significantly from Jan. 1 to May 15 (when Champaign repealed its nonsmoking ordinance), but we were living with it. When Champaign rescinded its ordinance, and Urbana didn't, and won't, we lost half-again the number of customers," said Steve Campbell, owner of the Rose Bowl Tavern in downtown Urbana.

"Our Friday and Saturday night crowd, before the ban went into effect, I would say 70 percent of them smoked. They haven't been back," he said.

However, he is hopeful that once the statewide ban goes into effect, the playing field, especially with Champaign, will again be level.

"If everybody plays by the rules, it will level the playing field. Once the statewide law goes into effect, I would tell other bar owners to be prepared for a slowdown, at least temporarily. Business will go down, but my hope is that it will go back up. But I don't expect it to be where it was before the ban (in Urbana) went into effect," he said.

The no-smoking ordinance also had an impact on the Iron Post, just down the street from the Rose Bowl – but not as severely.

"It definitely affected my business," owner Paul Wirth said. "The vocal nonsmokers who said they would come out (to nonsmoking bars) have not, at least not in the numbers they said they would. I've lost customers that I served for 20 years."

To make up for lost business, Wirth increased the number of nights he offers live music, sometimes even offering two or three live music acts in the same night. For example, in March he had 42 shows.

"Because of the community support for live entertainment that we have in this community, business has been OK. That's my niche. I'm doing more shows, pushing more food specials, trying to schedule more special events outside," Wirth said.

When the statewide law takes effect, he expects places that attract a young, hip crowd to do fine. Bars like the Iron Post and the Esquire, both of which serve food, also have an advantage. Wirth thinks small-town and working-class bars, which don't serve food or have some sort of niche, will suffer the most.

John Glennon, owner of Glennon's Bar in Bement, agreed.

"I've been keeping track and the other night of the 34 customers in here, 27 of them were smoking. My family has owned this bar since 1947. It's always been a shot-and-a-beer and have-a-cigarette type of bar. That's what our business is built on. I never thought this would happen in my lifetime. I think this will hurt a lot of bars, although the ones that serve food might be able to survive," he said.

Glennon said he likely will install some sort of "smoking shed" outside of his bar for smoking customers. But he's not sure how that concept will go over.

"Some people smoke a pack of cigarettes in one night. They're not going to go in and out and in and out 20 times, especially when the weather is bad. Also, when people are outside smoking, they're not spending money inside. They're not getting a drink, they're not putting money in a video game," he said.

Brad Peters, who with his wife owns Bridget's Blarney Stone in Ivesdale, is considering a similar remedy to protect smoking customers from the elements.

"People are not going to give up smoking because of this law. It's going to be disastrous. I think it's going to kill me. People may adjust to a degree, but the guy who smokes and used to come in here with his five buddies to watch a game is going to get a six-pack and go to his garage with his buddies and watch the game there instead," Peters said.

Nor does he think the people who stayed away from his bar because they were bothered by smoke will give him a boost in business or make up for lost customers who opt to smoke at home.

"It will not offset the guy who steps in and has five beers," Peters said. "The only way I gain from this is for bars in the area to close and I get those customers. I could be Pollyanna and say everything will be OK and I'm hoping, I'm truly hoping, that I will be able to weather the storm."

Mike Sullivan, owner of the Friendly Tavern in Danville, thinks his business will drop 40 percent when the state law goes into effect.

"I'm hoping it's no more than 40 percent. When you look at the combination of the smoking ban and the stiffer DUI laws, it's going to hurt," Sullivan said. "You lose 40 percent of your gross, that hurts. That's your savings, that's money for making improvements. I will probably have to lay at least one person off and things just won't get done.

"My answer to the smoking ban is our beer garden. We have a gorgeous beer garden. It even has a tiki hut. But in the winter, I'm not sure what I'll do. I'll have to put some sort of heat out there."

And I'm hoping the governor will make some sort of exception for bars, bowling alleys and private clubs. He has a line-item veto. Those are the places that will really be affected by this law."