Springfield weighs idea of banning smoking in restaurants

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Supporters of a plan to ban smoking in most of the city's restaurants said diners shouldn't have to breathe the second-hand smoke of others.

But opponents say there's a simpler way to handle the situation.

"Put a sign on the front door that says, 'We smoke in here. If you want to come in, come. If you don't, don't,'" said Wayne Barclay, 75, a former City Council member and a regular at George's Steakhouse.

Barclay occupies the same table every day, smoking his Roger Full Flavor cigarettes and shooting the breeze with friends "until I run out of lies."

But if the city passes a smoking ban, Barclay said, he'll stop going to his favorite hangout.

"I don't like it," he said of the proposal. "I don't think it's fair."

Neither do the waitresses at George's. They depend on the Wayne Barclays of Springfield to fill their booths, drink coffee, eat and play keno.

And with a customer base that's probably 75 percent smokers, George's has a lot to lose if the ordinance comes to pass.

Want to keep jobs

"We want to keep our jobs," said Jami Brown, a young waitress who's worked here about a year. "I love it here."

But officials with the Springfield-Greene County Health Department believe the time has come to clear the air in Springfield restaurants of cigarette smoke and the health risks it poses to those who inhale it.

On Wednesday, a City Council subcommittee conducted its first hearing on the proposal. The panel took no action, but will schedule a meeting within the next several weeks. If the bill moves forward from there, the full council will hold a public hearing, likely on March 24. A final vote could come April 7.

The proposed ordinance would not apply:

Where 60 percent or more of annual gross receipts come from alcoholic beverage sales.

Where there is an enclosed, independently ventilated smoking area that is shielded from the kitchen and dining area.

Where outdoor or sidewalk seating is physically separated.

In private clubs, dining or banquet facilities.

Survey support

The proposed ordinance comes on the heels of a health department restaurant survey released last week in which 61 percent of 438 responding businesses indicated they prohibit smoking and 72 percent supported a smoke-free ordinance.

"We just want to provide a clean-air environment for people to eat in," said Beth Donavan, who is community education coordinator for Cox Health Systems and a member of a local clean air coalition, Breathe Easy Springfield.

With 72 percent survey support, she believes restaurateurs want the same, and are willing to let government take the lead.

The Maryville City Council in northwest Missouri will vote Feb. 24 on a similar ordinance. Nodaway County Health Administrator Della Rhoades believes it will pass.

"I think the timing is very good," said Rhoades. "But it's taken a long time to make this happen."

It began eight years ago with a smoke-free day at a single restaurant. Eventually the idea spread to another diner, then another.

Today, Rhoades said, Citizens For Smoke-Free Nodaway County have at least 70 percent support from restaurant owners. "It has more community support than even the coalition knew," she said.

Surprisingly, there is little opposition and, Rhoades believes, strong council support.

"We've had council members not afraid to stand up. They see the right of individual business owners, but they see it's overridden by the health of the community."

That's not the sentiment at Springfield mom-and-pop restaurants like George's or Taylor's Drive In, where much of the help has a habit of smoking.

"All my employees smoke," said Taylor's owner Darlene Collins. "It's hard enough to get help these days, so what are you going to do?"

The Missouri Restaurant Association generally opposes what it considers government intrusion into business practice, executive vice president Pat Bergauer said.

"Who is Springfield city government to say, 'Youre not going to be able to let somebody smoke in your establishment?"' Bergauer said. "If they can do this, what group is going to be targeted next?"

The association board decided at a state-wide meeting last week to poll its 2,700 Missouri business members on whether to make restaurant smoking a legislative priority in Jefferson City before health advocates get the jump.

"It's an issue that hasn't raised its head yet in the state, but we fear it's on the way," said association president Greg Hunsucker. "It wouldn't surprise me in the next two to four years to see a state law on that subject."