By Jason McFarley, Truth Staff
SOUTH BEND -- Kara Maloney stubbed out a cigarette Monday outside the downtown bank where she works.
She was keenly aware that she couldn't light up anymore at the nearby restaurant where she and her boyfriend were meeting for lunch.
"It's going to be an inconvenience and take some of the pleasure out of going out, you know," Maloney said on the first day of a smoking ban in St. Joseph County businesses and public places. "For me, it's so natural to sit down, eat and drink and have a smoke. This (ban) will take some getting used to."
From bars to bowling alleys, business owners and their customers said they are learning to live with the much-debated countywide ordinance that outlaws smoking in most areas of public establishments.
At Chippewa Bowl on the city's south side, general manager Ray Hess said he expects an immediate -- but slight -- downturn in customers because of the new law. The upside, he suspects, is that families that traditionally have shied away from the alley because of the smoky environment will be more likely to come there now.
"As (the ban) becomes more a part of the landscape, we expect it to become a positive," he said.
Already, Hess is promoting the idea of smoke-free outings with fliers advertising: "Don't let your bowling go up in smoke!" And the business is paying up to $40,000 for a new air-filtration system.
Though smoking in the building will be banned on the lanes and in common areas, smokers still will be able to indulge their habit in two lounges there, Hess said.
Across the city, near the University of Notre Dame, K's Grill and Pub had a sign on the door letting customers know that the smoking ban doesn't apply there -- yet. County officials granted the restaurant along S.R. 23 a two-year extension to comply with the change.
Still, manager Mike Hartman said he didn't think the ordinance will go over well at his restaurant or at other businesses.
"I think when the county put it together, they didn't think about all the consequences it would have on businesses," Hartman said before the lunch crowd rolled in. "I'm almost positive that by the time our two years are up, there will be some amendments" to the law.
Maloney, the downtown bank worker, hopes for as much.
"The choice (to go smoke-free) should be up to individual businesses, not the government," she said. "I just think this is going to make a lot of people go to Elkhart or Michigan or someplace where they can smoke if they want to."
It will be interesting to see whether the St. Joseph County law indeed does provide a boost to business in western Elkhart County, said Kyle Hannon, public policy manager of Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce. He predicts Elkhart County likely will benefit from a small uptick in restaurant patrons fleeing the smoking ban, but he said many businesses in Elkhart County are voluntarily prohibiting smoking.
"The nonsmoking sections are getting larger and the smoking sections are shrinking," Hannon said of Elkhart-area eateries, "and it's because of customer demand."
He senses that the business community in Elkhart County wouldn't be receptive to a mandatory smoking ban.
The chamber does not officially advocate a position on smoking in public places, though Hannon pointed out that his organization's downtown Elkhart building is smoke-free.
In St. Joseph County, health department officials are responsible for enforcing the smoking ban. Enforcement will be driven by complaints reported to health officials rather than based on random inspections or targeted patrols, said Rita Hooton, the department's food service manager.
As of early Monday afternoon, Hooton said the department had gotten only one report of a suspected violation of the new law. But the site turned out to be one of the businesses where smoking is still permitted because the county gave it a two-year exemption.
At last count, 33 St. Joe County businesses were on file as being exempt, said Hooton, who was still tallying names of other businesses to add to that list Monday.
"Some of the establishments needed the extra time to make proper separation between their smoking and nonsmoking sections or to decide to go fully nonsmoking," she said.
The ordinance calls for ongoing public education about the ban.
Hooton said her department conducted three sparsely attended training sessions last week for business owners and the general public. More sessions are planned in May.
Back at the bowling alley, Hess said the smoking ban is simply a fact of life that St. Joe County will learn to accept -- like residents and merchants in other communities around the nation. Hess marked the change by burying outside the business a time capsule filled with a broken ashtray, two packs of cigarettes and a copy of the ordinance.
"You can either choose to be negative about this or be positive," Hess said. "We've chosen to embrace it."