Mount Pleasant bans smoking

MOUNT PLEASANT — Town Council voted 7-2 Tuesday night to approve an ordinance to ban smoking in indoor workplaces, including bars and restaurants.

The ordinance will take effect Sept. 1. Businesses may apply to the town for a 90-day extension to comply with the new law. The maximum fine is $100 per violation. Businesses will be responsible for enforcing the new law.

Councilmen Billy Swails and Kruger Smith voted against the ordinance. Swails said the town should wait until lawsuits against Charleston and Sullivan's Island over their smoking ordinances are settled. He noted that council previously voted to not take final action on the issue until January.

"Let's let the system work for us. We had an agreement, and now we're changing the whole thing. It needs to be done in a fair and equitable way," Swails said.

Councilman Paul Gawrych argued in favor the smoking ordinance. "People's lives are in danger," he said.

Smith said the town needs to exempt private clubs. He said he couldn't bring himself to tell veterans who had fought for their country that they couldn't smoke at a VFW post.

No business owners were present to speak against the ordinance.

Charleston plans to implement its indoor workplace smoking ban July 23. A group of affected businesses have filed suit against the city.

"I think a lot of us are going to be in some serious trouble," said Lawson Roberts, owner of the club Tonik. "People like to have a cigarette with a cocktail."

Roberts said he favored an unsuccessful proposal in the Legislature that would have given clubs the right to buy a smoking license while imposing a statewide ban on smoking in restaurants. He said the situation is a Catch-22 because police discourage crowds outside of clubs but under the new ordinance people would have to go outside to smoke.

The state Clean Indoor Air Act already bans smoking in schools, health care facilities, government buildings, public transportation, theaters and performing arts centers.

Sullivan's Island and Charleston both have a maximum fine of $500 and/or 30 days in jail for their smoking ordinance. Mount Pleasant dropped its maximum fine from $500 and/or 30 days in jail to $100 and no jail time.

The local ordinances exempt private residences and smoking rooms at hotels and motels. Mount Pleasant and Charleston allow smoking on stage as part of a theatrical production. Retail tobacco stores are exempt on Sullivan's Island and in Charleston, which also exempts cigar bars.

The Sullivan's Island smoking ordinance has been in effect since last July. In that time, the town has issued one citation to Bert's Bar, which filed suit against the town. The disposition of the citation will hinge on a decision in the court case, said bar owner Tim Runyon.

Runyon said the effect of the ordinance has been to shift 80 percent of his business outside to the parking lot, where patrons go to smoke after buying a beer. It's made booking bands not worth it anymore, he said. "It's been a struggle," he said.

Circuit Judge Deadra Jefferson upheld the Sullivan's Island ordinance, a decision that Bert's has appealed. The case is expected to be heard by the state Supreme Court, which Runyon hopes will rule in his favor.

"It's another one of those prayers you're waiting to have answered," he said.

Town Councilman Everett Presson, who sponsored the smoking ordinance, said it has been well-received by island business. "All of the restaurants and bars are very happy with it except Bert's," he said. "I think it's worked very well. This is an idea whose time has clearly come. The public supports it."

Municipal smoking ordinances have been the subject of conflicting circuit court rulings. Judge John Few overruled a smoking ban passed by Greenville City Council.

Hilton Head Island is among nine South Carolina municipalities to pass smoking ordinances. The town recently fined a bartender $750 for two violations under its new smoking ordinance, which provides for a maximum penalty of $500 and/or 30 days in jail.

"Most people are complying," said town prosecutor Brian Hulbert.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@postandcourier.com.