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Glenview Update
Smoking ban in bars unlikely here
March 15, 2007
By LYNNE STIEFEL Staff Writer Glenview village trustees intend to restrict smoking in all public places except retail tobacco stores and restaurants that generate at least two-thirds of gross receipts from liquor sales. Restaurants that don't meet that standard are likely to be required to provide a smoke-free dining area. That was the policy backed by most trustees after a three-hour debate Monday night. But until the language is set in an ordinance for the board's formal consideration, perhaps in April, the smoking status quo will remain in force in Glenview. That's because the board Monday adopted the Illinois Clean Indoor Act, which is less restrictive than the Cook County Clean Indoor Air Ordinance effective as of today, March 15, in communities that have no local law. Most trustees earlier had said they were willing to vote to regulate smoking in some public places, including offices, but did not want to put eating and drinking establishments at a competitive disadvantage by imposing regulations that might prompt patrons to go to other communities with less restrictive smoking laws. Trustees' thoughts
Given that all holders of Glenview liquor licenses also serve food in their establishments, the board struggled Monday to come up with a way to differentiate between those that primarily function as bars and those considered primarily restaurants. "The reason I'm willing to do some regulation is because we're trying to codify some trends. The rub is I think we have a different view of how far these trends have gone or where exactly to draw the line," Trustee Paul Detlefs said. Trustees also differed over whether to require restaurants with separate dining and bar areas to confine smoking to their bar areas. "There's no conceivable way we could come up with a fair and equitable arrangement that says it makes sense to be 20 feet from the bar, fully enclosed, partially enclosed, with a great HVAC system or not. How do we possibly get our arms around all that, especially when there's a lot of pending legislation (for Illinois) that could potentially turn this all upside down anyway?" Trustee Kim Woodrow said. "If we're saying that it's OK to exempt certain establishments and allow smoking, let's let them decide how they should go about running their business, because at the end of the day the paying public is going to decide where they are going to go." Consistent with area
In backing a percentage of food and drink sales as the determining factor in how to regulate local eateries, Village President Kerry Cummings said Glenview's rules then would be consistent with those of Morton Grove, Niles, Skokie, Wheeling and other surrounding communities. "I look at this as trying to create a level playing field and make some progress toward what ultimately will probably be a public policy of the state of Illinois," Cummings said. Under the preferred policy, the board believes Glenview House, Potato Creek Johnny's and Brother's Tavern would have no smoking restrictions, while the owners of other restaurants with liquor licenses would have discretion to set their own internal smoking rules. The board intends to ban smoking in restaurants without liquor licenses. That would impact Elly's Pancake House and International House of Pancakes, the only two of that type in Glenview where smoking currently is allowed. Tom and Dena Hanson, owners of Brother's Tavern for the last three months, were pleased with that news. "We understand the state will probably go completely smoke-free at some point in the future, but it gives us an opportunity to learn how to do that," Dena Hanson said. "It's a learning process for everybody. You cannot change those kinds of behaviors just by snapping your fingers because you wish it to be so. Those kinds of behaviors are very ingrained with people." Health professionals and other Glenview residents who had hoped trustees would ban indoor smoking in public venues village-wide were disappointed with the policy decision. "I don't know why they want to create two classes of workers in Glenview -- those who are protected and those who aren't," said Joel Levin, an attorney and co-chairman of Glenview Citizens for Clean Indoor Air. "I have to believe the overwhelming majority of letters and e-mails they got was supportive of a ban. It's troublesome they're not following the will of the people." Read
Local smoking rules topic tonight February 8, 2007
By LYNNE STIEFEL Staff Writer Owners and managers of Glenview's restaurants and bars hope their voices will be heard at a workshop scheduled tonight by the Village Board to consider whether and how to locally restrict smoking. About 15 of the town's 27 restaurant and bar owners agreed last Thursday they'd like trustees to maintain the status quo, rather than allow a Cook County law to take effect March 15 that will ban smoking in virtually all public places. "It's a hard business to begin with -- to make money and keep what you have -- and (a smoking ban) just seems like another knife right in there to kill it," said Jeff D'Agostino, owner of D'Agostino's Pizzeria in The Glen. Because a Glenview law adopted in 1989 only restricts smoking in Village Hall, trustees have been advised the county law will supersede local ordinance. So they have three options to consider: • Taking no action and allowing the county ban to take effect in Glenview; • Adopting a local law to regulate smoking throughout the village, which could specify areas where smoking is or is not allowed; and • Adopting the Illinois Clean Indoor Air Act, which allows the operators of businesses and restaurants discretion regarding designations of smoking areas. The restaurant and bar owners and managers meeting last Thursday said they would prefer Glenview adopt the Illinois Clean Indoor Air Act, since the rules each of their establishments have set are so varied, and could be allowed to remain if this option were implemented. Yardhouse in The Glen Town Center banned smoking when it first opened, but within a month decided to allow smoking after 9 p.m. at the bar and in a small rear dining section, general manager Frank Gondermann said. "We're giving (diners who smoke) a venue where they can relax and enjoy themselves. It's a nice separation and it works well for us," Gondermann said. "A lot of people are happy we're non-smoking up to a certain point." Whether to allow smoking should remain a business decision, said Liz Hebson, co-owner of Hackney's on Lake. "If we choose to be smoking, we do it because we make our living this way," she said. "If people say, 'I'm not coming in Hackney's because you can smoke there,' we may change our mind. That's our right." None of the establishments with outdoor dining facilities, the group noted, would be able to allow smoking on their patios under the county law, because it prohibits smoking within 15 feet of any entrance to an enclosed where smoking is banned. Many of the owners or managers said they had heard anecdotally that restaurants with bars in other communities that have banned smoking have seen a decrease in bar business. Skokie enacted a law in 2003 that allows bars and restaurants with bars to install separate ventilation systems as well as doors and windows to isolate smoking areas from the rest of their establishments. Although many warned the law would be onerous, sales taxes from eating and drinking establishments increased 11.2 percent in the two years following the ban's enactment compared to the two years prior to the ban's enactment, according to Skokie officials. While he can't speak for individual businesses, Lowell Huckleberry, Skokie's health director, said the data indicates "most Skokie eating and drinking establishments were not negatively affected by the ordinance. In fact, it appears that business improved significantly for many of them." Bravo Cuccina Italiana in The Glen Town Center saw a difference when it enacted a no-smoking policy, manager Kirk Lamitie said. "We did see a decline at first in a lot of our regulars that smoked, but we saw them come back. They are coming back," Lamitie said. While his establishment doesn't allow smoking, Lamitie said he doesn't want others to be mandated to do so. "I don't think it should affect the bar business that relies mainly on that," he said. The Glenview Village Board workshop begins at 7 tonight in Village Hall, 1225 Waukegan Road. No matter what Glenview does, the county smoking ban will take effect March 15 at Cafe Lucci, which is located in unincorporated Cook County. Currently, smoking is allowed there at the bar, but not in the dining room. "People that I knew were non-smokers would make reservations for non-smoking tables and what I was finding was that I'd have to keep half my dining room empty because that was my smoking section. So I just made the whole restaurant non-smoking," owner Bobby Arifi said. "But we'd like to keep that bar smoking."
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Trustees (Term Expires)
Smoking bans on state, local agendas
November 16, 2006
By LIZA ROCHE Staff Writer
Glenview officials intend to solicit public opinion about whether the village should regulate smoking in public places, in light of a county law effective in March that will ban smoking in most public places, as well as possible action at the state level to restrict smoking.
Village President Kerry Cummings said she wants to schedule a Village Board workshop on the issue early next year.
"What we have found is that various municipalities have adopted and tailored legislation that is appropriate for their community. We'd like the opportunity to hear from our community to determine what is appropriate for Glenview."
Glenview in 1957 adopted a law that prohibited smoking in retail stores, but allowed smoking in areas "set apart," where food or beverages were served, in waiting and rest rooms, in beauty parlors and areas where merchandise was not exposed.
In 1989, trustees adopted a new ordinance that restricted smoking in Village Hall, and its existence pre-empted the 1957 law.
The Cook County ordinance, passed last March, prohibits smoking in bars, restaurants and virtually all other indoor workplaces in unincorporated Cook County or communities without their own policies.
Glenview officials believe it will supersede local law.
State proposal
Several months ago, state Sen. Terry Link, D-30th, introduced a bill that would ban smoking statewide. If Link has the votes, he may bring it up in the General Assembly's veto session, which began Tuesday. The bill differs from a smoking ban bill discussed earlier in the House.
"It's something I believe in -- and it's the right thing to do," said Link, who said environmental and health issues especially concern his constituents.
Last month, the legislator hosted a hearing on the bill, which is identical to the city of Chicago's ban. That ordinance, which went into effect earlier this year, gives a two-year grace period along with potential for future on-site smoking if a building's owner creates a ventilation system that essentially replicates the quality of outdoor air.
A statewide smoking ban would be the latest development in an ongoing anti-smoking campaign in Illinois that has left individual communities, or counties, deciding for themselves whether to regulate smoking in businesses or facilities outside the home.
This approach has brought a patchy map of smoking laws in Illinois. Some towns, including Northbrook, have approved comprehensive bans, although Northbrook's isn't effective until the new year.
Some have approved bans with exemptions for particular industries.
More than 30 communities in Illinois so far have, or soon will start, smoking bans.
Morton Grove and Niles officials are also scheduled to discuss smoking legislation early next year, Cummings said, adding she wants to work with surrounding town officials and the public on the issue.
Creating headaches
Many municipal leaders and business owners say the differing rules are creating headaches. For example, along the border of Streamwood and Hoffman Estates on Barrington Road, one restaurant advertises that it allows smoking -- now banned in public places in Hoffman Estates.
Many businesses, including restaurants and bars, bowling alleys and gaming groups, say a smoking ban could mortally wound them in the pocketbook.
Ban supporters have focused on the public health issue, saying employees who work in the sometimes smoky hospitality industry are exposed to secondhand smoke.
Opponents call a smoking ban an assault on civil liberties, arguing prohibitions against cigarettes violate their constitutional right to freedom of assembly.
Garnet Dawn Scheuer, a Lake Bluff resident and founder of Illinois Smokers Rights, said banning smoking in public places would violate her rights.
She said a visit to Florida, where smoking is banned in public places, inspired her to take up the fight. Scheuer said that state's rules left her feeling confined to her hotel room.
And Scheuer, who reports her new group already has a few hundred supporters, questions claims that secondhand smoke is dangerous, or cannot be mitigated.
As municipalities, and now the state, consider smoking bans, businesses and industries have sought exemptions.
"What I don't understand is why I am considered a public place," said Dave Agnew, owner of Elmhurst's Spring Inn, a neighborhood bar where locals sometimes wander in for a beer and pork chop sandwich.
"Nobody has to come here. You gotta go the bank, you gotta go to city hall and to court, but not here," he said. "If you don't want to walk through my door, you don't have to."
Gus Pappas, owner of Meier's Tavern in Glenview, disagrees with a state smoking ban, but likes it better than a municipal ban. Wood-paneled Meier's has been around since the 1920s. And for all of that time, not even the decor has changed too much.
Government should leave the issue alone, he said.
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