Smoking law may amount to ban

Patrick Henry's Grill and Pub in East Richmond has a smoking area downstairs, but no smoking in the upstairs dining area. Owner Eric Warner recently prohibited smoking in the entire restaurant until after 9 p.m.

With a new law going into effect in Virginia in December that puts more restrictions on, but does not entirely ban, smoking in restaurants, Warner said he's likely to make his restaurant smoke-free, despite his concerns about how some customers might react.

"I will be happy to go nonsmoking completely, but I don't know if all my patrons will be," he said. "I know it is nonsmoking even in Paris now, but we are in tobacco country here."

Warner and many other local restaurateurs are grappling with the potential financial impact of the new law. Some no-smoking experiments here and changes in laws elsewhere offer insight into how the new law could affect the bottom line. Meanwhile, the hospitality industry expects the law to essentially ban smoking in most eateries. The law prohibits smoking in restaurants unless there is a smoking room that is physically separated and independently ventilated from nonsmoking areas. However, it exempts private clubs such as lodges, and nonenclosed outdoor areas of eateries.

The Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association opposed the smoking legislation, which the General Assembly approved in February and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed in March. The industry group argued that the law would put unnecessary regulatory burdens on restaurants, many of which are going smoke-free voluntarily.

About 60 percent of the state's full-service restaurants already are smoke-free, according to statistics compiled by the Virginia Department of Health from restaurant inspections. Statistics for Richmond, Henrico County and Chesterfield County show 58 percent, 71 percent and 57 percent of restaurants smoke-free, respectively.

Chris Ripp, owner of Can Can restaurant in Carytown, said the restaurant recently went smoke-free mostly because of customer demand. Ripp said he does expect to see some impact on sales, at least initially, but based on input from customers he believes a no-smoking policy will ultimately draw more patrons.

"Definitely short term, you are going to lose bar sales," from banning smoking, he said. "But long term we are going to gain back those dollars in the dining room."

. . .

Supporters of public smoking bans point to numerous studies, many of them conducted by public health groups or agencies, indicating little or no impact on sales and employment at restaurants or clubs, and even a positive impact over time. Opponents say the studies don't capture the whole picture, and that some restaurants are hurt by smoking bans, especially small operations that cater to smokers.

"Even if [the economic impact] is only for a short period of time, why would the General Assembly have passed this legislation in this economic environment?" asked J. Glynn Loope, a lobbyist for a trade group of cigar sellers in Virginia.

Business groups in some states that have adopted similar smoking laws say it doesn't necessarily mean lost business, as long as the law applies equally to businesses across the state.

Walt Hazard, president of the Tennessee Hospitality Association, said overall sales have not been hurt by that state's law, adopted in 2007, that prohibited smoking in any restaurants that serves or employs people under the age of 21.

While a few went to an over-21 rule, "most [restaurants] just converted to smoke-free," he said. The sales impact "was insignificant because it was statewide, and every business was having to follow the same set of rules everywhere."

A similar dynamic occurred in Georgia after the state adopted a smoking law for restaurants in 2005 unless they don't serve minors. The state's restaurant association supported the change.

"We were suffering from a proliferation of local jurisdiction bans that were in some cases contradictory," said Ron Wolf, the association's president. "We supported the [statewide law] because we felt at the very least it would level the playing field in Georgia. Everybody would be operating by the same rules."

"Before the ban we received an awful lot of outcry," from business owners and smokers, he said. "Once the ban went into effect, that literally dwindled to nothing. It is a pretty good indication that it has had minimal if any adverse impact on business."

. . .

Some local restaurants that have gone smoke-free voluntarily say they do not regret the decision. At the Smokey Pig, an Ashland barbecue restaurant that barred smoking more than a year ago, co-owner Michael Pyle said it is difficult to quantify the effect on sales.

"My sales are down like everybody else at this point," he said. "I am not attributing any of that to our smoke-free policy. I think that is economic."

Customer comments indicate the policy has had a more positive impact, he said.

"I will say that for every one person that has given a negative comment, I have gotten three to five telling me how wonderful it is," he said. "As far as I am concerned it was a good decision." Some customers, as well as staff, go outside to smoke now, he said.

Merrell Wreden, a spokesman for Hanover County-based AMF Bowling, which operates bowling centers in Virginia and other states, said smoking bans have had temporary effects on patronage elsewhere. "The way it worked for us when the first smoking ban went into effect in California several years ago was our business was off immediately about 20 percent," he said.

"That was sort of a combination of league bowlers, who at that time I think had a higher incidence of smokers than the general population, and also people who would go to our bar and hang out after bowling."

"It took a while, but the business recovered," Wreden said. "What happened in every state since then, there has usually been some effect on the business, but each time it seems to be less and the recovery time is shorter."

"My impression is that the incidence of smoking generally is down," he said. "We still get a lot of requests for nonsmoking from families and other people, and frankly I think at this point that smokers are so used to having restricted access to smoking in public places, they just go outside or don't smoke while in the building."

Two of the company's bowling centers in the Richmond area have had no-smoking policies for more than two years, and "the reaction has been very positive," he said.

. . .

Some restaurant owners and industry officials say the law likely amounts to a de-facto ban on indoor smoking in eateries, because it is unlikely that many business owners will try to install separate smoking rooms and ventilation, especially in a down economy.

"The majority of people are not going to do it, because they can't afford it," said Megan Svajda, director of government relations for the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association. "Once the economy turns around, maybe they will start thinking about it. Right now the majority of restaurants do not have the funds necessary to pay for these modifications to their restaurants."

Wreden, of AMF Bowling, said the company has no plans to have separate smoking rooms. "We would just have no smoking," he said.

Svajda said the Hospitality and Travel Association will provide information to restaurants considering putting in separate rooms with ventilation, though it is hard to say how much it would cost for a typical restaurant to do.

"It is hard to quantify how much it is going to cost," she said. "That would be determined by what kind of products [a restaurant] is using for ventilation, and where you are located in the state, and the size of your operation."

Another option for restaurants that want to keep smoking would be to become a private club, but that seems impractical for many restaurants, she said. "You would have to have a charter, with an elected board," she said.

Contact John Reid Blackwell at (804) 775-8123 or .