RSS Feeds
• Metro • Sports |
Bar owners didn't go down without a fight Wednesday as Columbia City Council members voted 5-2 to approve a s moking ban in all bars and restaurants
Councilman Kirkman Finlay, a restaurant owner who voted against the ordinance, introduced an amendment that would have allowed bars and restaurants to open private smoking clubs as long as they were separated from the rest of the building.
Council members did not vote on the amendment but agreed to discuss it at a later date.
Finlay introduced the amendment at the request of Laddie Howard, a lobbyist hired by a group of bar owners in an attempt to get around the ban by creating an exception for private clubs.
Efforts to reach Howard were unsuccessful.
“This gives people an outlet to avoid smoking on street corners and at home,” said Finlay, who added he does not allow smoking in his restaurants and thinks it is a “horrible habit.”
The city’s smoking ban, which goes into effect Oct. 1, exempts private clubs if the clubs have a board of directors, bylaws and are exempt from federal income taxes.
Finlay’s amendment would have loosened those requirements, effectively letting any bar open a private club area separate from the main bar that would allow smoking.
“What I am not for is a commercial bar being able to skirt the no-smoking ban because of a loose definition of a private club,” Mayor Bob Coble said.
Willie Durkin, owner of Durkins in Five Points, said earlier this week he thought he met the city’s private club definition because he had an alcohol license from the state Department of Revenue as a private club. But because Durkins’ sole purpose is to sell alcohol, it does not meet the city’s definition, he said Wednesday.
“I don’t understand why in the state of South Carolina’s eyes I’m private, but in the city’s eyes I’m not,” he said.
Scott Linaberry, owner of Sharky’s and Red Hot Tomatoes in Five Points, said he opposes the smoking ban but didn’t think weakening the ordinance would help.
“I’ll just turn the upstairs part of my club into a private club. It’s not going to accomplish what (the city wants) to accomplish,” Linaberry said.
Council member Daniel Rickenmann, who does not allow smoking in the restaurants he owns, voted against the ordinance.
Reach Beam at (803) 771-8405.
