City approves smoking ban

By BILL BENGTSON

It's official: Marlboros, Camels, Newports and stogies are now out of bounds in most of North Augusta's public places, in the wake of Monday's North Augusta City Council vote.

Several residents of Augusta and North Augusta stepped forward to bolster or blast the proposed ordinance, but the final result was a 5-0 vote by way of Mayor Lark Jones and Councilmen Arthur Shealy, Carolyn Baggott, Pat Carpenter and Jimmy Adams. Absent were Ken McDowell and Jason Whinghter.

Plans are for a grace period to allow for spreading information about the restrictions. Kelly Zier, the City attorney, noted that an "honest attempt to enforce" the ordinance will be adequate to protect proprietors who may be forced to deal with smokers who refuse to comply.

Please see SMOKING, page 16A

Among those opposing the ordinance were several representatives of The Highlander, a British-style pub on Georgia Avenue. David Drakeley, the bar's owner, noted that his business may sustain a tremendous loss if its customers are no longer allowed to smoke. He cited a media report that claimed downtown Augusta has 44 bars.

"Now my competition is all a few hundred yards across the river. ... I have a lot of competition where all my customers can go to smoke while they enjoy refreshments," he said, noting that all of his clients are age 18 or older, so there is no need for concern about children's health in connection with the Highlander's air quality.

Questions arose as to what restrictions are in place in Augusta in terms of exemptions for places that are considered bars (making the vast majority of their revenue from alcoholic beverages) as opposed to restaurants.

Among those giving an upbeat assessment of Monday's vote was Dan Carrigan, who has visited several Council meetings as a representative of the Smoke Free Action Network.

"I'd like to offer, as we have for the City of Aiken, who's recently passed an ordinance, some assistance in terms of implementation, and we have some materials that we have passed on. There's a lot of great national resources, warning letters. The goal is to have zero violations, and that can occur through an education process, through letting people ... know how it works, and it's really quite simple to do that," he said.

Drakeley and the mayor discussed the state and county laws affecting bars in Augusta, and the mayor noted that North Augusta's original proposal had an exemption for bars. The exemption, however, was dropped, "and at this point in time, the way the ordinance stands, there will be no smoking allowed in your facility or any other public facility - restaurant, bar, whatever," Jones said.

Drakeley estimated that at least 60 to 70 percent of his customers are smokers. He said the situation involving the ordinance seems to indicate "some prejudice," and added, "Quite honestly, it's beginning to smack of George Orwell and '1984.'"

He added, "I do feel that where the clientele is 100-percent adult, they should have the preference, which they have now, to come in or not come in, and that smoking should be allowed where it is a bar ... Ninety-nine percent of my customers agree with me."

Carrigan and Drakeley spoke after the meeting. The bar owner expressed his annoyance with the outcome and circumstances leading to it, and Carrigan said he would like to see The Highlander become a success story as an establishment making a lucrative conversion to smoke-free status.

The mayor said he has seen evidence from surveys that businesses in similar situations have not experienced the losses they feared might happen once smoking restrictions were put in place.

"They felt like they're getting more business from folks that are glad that there aren't smokers there, and it makes up for the loss of those who cannot smoke," Jones said.

He said it would be hypocritical, in light of evidence about the dangerous effects of second-hand smoke, for civic leaders "to allow smoking in some places but not in others, if you think it's harmful to other people."

Drakeley also raised the question of whether ordinances, in the months ahead, might be produced to counteract other businesses, such as those that thrive largely through serving products high in fat or sugar. The Pink Dipper or Gary's Restaurant, he said, might be squeezed next.

Along with Drakeley and some of his employees and clients, speakers included North Augusta resident Zaki Rucker, who described himself as a non-smoker on active duty in the military and fond of "bar atmosphere."

Rucker said, "I would personally love to have an opportunity to go out to a bar with some of my friends from work in an environment where it's smoke-free because ... even if there's one smoker in the building, it will bother me."

The mayor noted that Monday's vote was "somewhat unprecedented" in his tenure in terms of the measure having arisen for a vote four times instead of the traditional three. The extra vote was required because the third vote contained what was deemed to be a substantial change from the previous two.

As for enforcement measures, the mayor added, "We're not going to put a smoke Nazi in next year's budget."

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