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Councilman proposes changes to smoking ban

Tucson City Councilman Steve Leal proposed four amendments to the smoking ban that could affect some campus-area restaurants.

Leal told council members at Monday's meeting he wants to extend the time period that a restaurant has to show the ban has hurt business.

Under the ordinance, which went into effect Friday, restaurant owners have three months to appeal and lose that option after that time period.

"The government has the obligation not to deprive people of due process," said Leal, a democrat. "I think citizens should have the right to appeal."

A second amendment proposed by Leal is lowering the price of smoking event permits, which would allow restaurants to have smoking on 12 occasions a year.

The permits cost $100 under the ordinance, but Leal said they should cost the same as a regular special event permit - $25.

Leal also said he wants the distance smokers must be from entrances and exits of restaurants to be reduced from 15 feet to five feet.

"If you have a patio, you can't have a table within 15 feet and a lot of patios are not that big," Leal said.

He added that most restaurants will have the air conditioning on, causing positive pressure which will push air out when the door is opened.

"Smoke will not come in - chances are most of the time it's coming out," Leal said.

His final proposed amendment is that the smoking ban should not apply to restaurants when a business is not selling food but remains open as a bar.

"It can't be an addition to what you're normally doing," he added.

Gary Crystal, night manager for Bison Witches Bar & Deli, 326 N. Fourth Ave., said he thinks extending the time period for a restaurant to file an appeal against the ban is a good idea.

"(The hardship appeal) is what we were kind of banking on," Crystal said.

Crystal added that all the proposed amendments are positive suggestions.

"It's working toward giving people a little more options," Crystal said.

Crystal said since the ban began, the left side of the restaurant is a smoking section and the rest, including the back patio, is non-smoking.

Crystal said he does not know if the amendment proposing to decrease the distance that smokers are allowed from doors would apply to the restaurant's back patio because patrons would have to walk through the smoking section to go into the back entrance.

Bill Eyrich, the general manager of Geronimoz Restaurant & Bar, 800 E. University Blvd., said the only amendment that could affect the restaurant would be the distance allowing smokers near entrances.

"With the distance reduced from 15 feet to five feet, I think that's a good thing," Eyrich said.

He added if that amendment is passed, smoking would be allowed on the restaurant's back porch.

Regarding the other proposed amendments, Eyrich said he does not think the restaurant will be affected by the ban.

Leal said Mayor George Miller and Councilwoman Janet Marcus, both democrats, have already expressed opposition in already making amendments to the ban.

"Usually we don't make changes," Marcus said. "We pass an ordinance and let it run for a year. I don't see any need to make changes."

Marcus said there was a lot of discussion with the Arizona Restaurant Association before the ordinance was composed and the issues that Leal proposed should have been brought up at that time.

Marcus said Leal's proposals have come from pressure he has felt from the association, along with some benefits for his personal preferences.

"The special smoking event permit - that's a special favor for a restaurant or two that (Leal's) particularly fond of," Marcus said.

"Obviously the Restaurant Association has put a lot of pressure on (Leal) and he has decided to respond," Marcus said.

The proposed amendments will be on the council's agenda for Monday.