Adam Huening, Greensburg Daily News
Many smokers will attest there is nothing better than going out for a cup of coffee or a beer accompanied by a cigarette, but that pleasure may be fleeting in the city.
The Greensburg City Council introduced a suggestion during its Monday meeting to study whether they should pass an ordinance banning smoking in public places, which could include bars and restaurants. City Councilman Larry Bower brought up the suggestion offered by one of his constituents and, after “limited conversation” with other council members, they decided to take the matter under consideration.
“I think it’s a sign of the times. I can see both sides of the issues because I’m a former long-time smoker, so it’s not like I have an ax to grind,” Bower said.
Bower and the Council are prepared to read carefully over the issue. The first step of the process will involve the Chamber of Commerce.
“I’ve been asked by the mayor and the City Council to send out a survey to all Chamber members and contact surrounding communities with regards to their ordinances about public smoking for information purposes,” Jennifer Sturges, executive director of the Greensburg Chamber of Commerce, said.
She also asked that anyone, on either side of the issue, contact the chamber and express their feelings.
The survey will help the Council decide where and when the smoking ban should be focused. Bower said perhaps they’d consider placing the ban on businesses which serve minors, but that idea runs into complications with restaurants that also have bars, such as El Reparo or Chili’s.
Along with the survey is an examination of other ordinances. Many surrounding communities, such as Columbus and Bloomington, have already adopted similar policies banning cigarette smoke in restaurants and bars. Sturges stated surveying these communities and the business owners of Greensburg will help the Council decide what action to take.
Several area restaurants, such as Sunnyside Cafe and Ponderosa, have already adopted a no-smoking policy for both health and personal reasons.
Andy Wilson, owner of Sunnyside Cafe, said he has lost a few customers to the policy but feels overall that it has been a positive decision.
“We did (the smoking ban) as a choice thing. I helps a lot of people, and they like it,” Wilson said. “Even smokers seem to like it.”
However, Wilson made a business decision to enact this policy. Some restaurant owners feel the Council may step on their rights with this ban.
“I believe if a person owns their own business, they should be allowed to decide how to run it,” Don Storie, owner of Storie’s Restaurant, said.
Terry Hogg, owner of Trackside, strongly agreed with that assessment.
“What gives them the right to tell me how to run my business,” Hogg demanded. “They don’t want to help me out if I go broke, but they want to tell me how to run (my business).”
Hogg said approximately 90 percent of his customers were smokers, and he was certain such a move by the Council would hurt businesses.
“If (the Council) wants to close all the restaurants in town, then go ahead (with the ban),” Hogg passionately stated.
Neither Hogg nor Storie are against non-smokers. Hogg offers a separate non-smoking room, which he is glad to open at any time for customers who wish to eat in a smoke-free environment.
While the health of the customer is a central issue, Sturges offered that the talk of smoking bans in other areas actually originated with wait staff. Waitresses and waiters are exposed to the smoke for longer periods of time, and many feel these employees are entitled to a healthy work environment.
Caitlin Hellmich, a waitress for Storie’s Restaurant, said she does wish that she could avoid working around the smoking.
“I really don’t like cleaning out ashtrays. They should clean them out themselves,” Hellmich said.
Her co-worker, Tiara Holbrook, feels that the restaurant could be divided to accommodate all customers.
“It should be half and half, non-smoking in the front and smoking in the back,” Holbrook said.
She added, however, smoking does not bother her too much.
“Usually when customers smoke, it is at the end of the meal and you don’t really have to go back, so you’re pretty much done waiting on them,” Holbrook said.
The Council still has much to examine before they are anywhere close to a decision. Bower stressed that he expects this to be a long, carefully planned process as they figure out when and where the smoking ban would be enforced, if they even decide to do one. However, with the current trends, Bower and others believe the future is inevitable.
“We would be kind of naive to believe this won’t eventually happen at some point,” Bower said.