Dorchester smoking-ban vote set for Feb.

SUMMERVILLE — Businesses in Dorchester County won't know until February whether workplace smoking is likely to be banned.

But County Council members' sentiments on Tuesday suggest the prohibition won't be approved.

A vote to ban workplace smoking had been scheduled Tuesday night but was delayed by the council, even though an apparent majority of council members were ready to oppose the regulation.

The vote for the delay was 6-1, with Councilman Willie Davis opposed.

Councilman George Bailey asked for the delay because he had just been given the proposed law and wanted more time to review it. But he made no bones how he felt.

'Are we going to tell the people in Dorchester County you can't go out in the sun because we have a fear of melanoma? Are we going to tell people you can't eat a candy bar, can't eat french fries because they're bad for your health? When are we going to stop telling people what they can and can't do with their lives?' Bailey said.

Councilmen David Chinnis, Jay Byars and Bill Hearn also said they opposed the ban as an overreach of government, and unnecessary because businesses are turning smoke-free on their own.

Newly elected council Chairman Larry Hargett chided opposing members for not at least considering the law, which he had proposed for a 'title only' first reading to give the council an opportunity to review it.

Davis and Councilman Richard Rosebrock also supported the law.

The law would affect only the unincorporated parts of the county, not municipalities. The first-reading vote was put off until a Feb. 7 meeting.

The county would be the first in the Charleston area to have a smoking ban; at least five counties across the state have bans. Eleven Lowcountry municipalities have smoking bans; North Charleston and Folly Beach have rejected them.

Summerville will have a final reading Jan. 13 on a smoking ban, after tabling it last spring, then reviving it late last year.

A collection of anti-smoking activist groups has pushed for the local bans and a statewide ban that the S.C. Legislature hasn't acted upon.

Representatives and supporters of the activist groups turn out for the votes, arguing for the health and worker-safety benefits. Less organized and usually smaller numbers of smoking supporters and business people turn out arguing that it's a property-rights decision that should be left to individual businesses.

The meeting Tuesday was no different. Eleven people spoke in favor of the law; four spoke against it.

Ryan Burke, who was a customer at Upstairs at the Ice House in Summerville Tuesday afternoon, said when asked that it's not fair to have alcohol sales go to voter referendum but smoking bans are decided by council votes.

The bans appear to hurt at least a few businesses and help others. Bert's Bar closed after Sullivan's Island passed a smoking ban; the owner blamed it partly on a drop in business after the ban. Nearby, Dunleavy's Pub saw business pick up.

'I think everybody has a fear it's going to affect their business,' said owner Mike Dunleavy, who supported the town's ban. 'But it's only helped our business.'

Reach Bo Petersen at 937-5744.