Anti-Smoking Ordinance Softened : Beverly Hills Restaurants Get Breathing Room

Most existing restaurants in Beverly Hills will not have to fully comply with the city’s strict anti-smoking ordinance but will be allowed to separate non-smoking and smoking sections with improved ventilation systems rather than both walls and better ventilation.

The City Council on Tuesday said that a study commissioned by the Beverly Hills Restaurant Assn., which represents about 60 of the 110 restaurants in the city, showed that requiring existing restaurants to put up walls and install new ventilation systems would be too costly and could destroy their ambiance.

Restaurant owners were to submit floor plans by March 15 showing how they intended to comply with the ordinance, but the City Council extended the deadline for 90 days while the city attorney rewrites the ordinance to include the less stringent requirements for existing restaurants. The amended ordinance is expected to be brought back before the City Council on April 5.

Any new restaurants or existing ones that are extensively remodeled would have to comply with the more stringent requirements.

“It was a very good compromise,” said Rudy Cole, a spokesman for the restaurant association. “We are generally pleased with it. There is a new mood on the City Council to understand the problems of the restaurants. There is also an (awareness) acceptance that we have been cooperating.”

Last March, Beverly Hills drew national attention for adopting an anti-smoking ordinance that banned smoking in all restaurants with 50 or more seats. But four months later, after restaurant owners began complaining about declining business, the City Council softened the ordinance to allow restaurants to set aside up to 50% of their tables for smokers if walls and ventilation systems were installed.

Restaurants were allowed to immediately allow smoking if they submitted floor plans showing the separate sections. The walls and ventilation systems did not have to be in place for six months.

But in September, restaurant owners began complaining that compliance with the ordinance would be too costly and would destroy the atmosphere of their establishments.

The restaurant association asked for an extension of the deadline so it could study the costs and remodeling involved to fully comply with the ordinance.

At the time, some council members accused restaurant owners of dragging their feet and of intending to sidestep the ordinance. But in December, after a preliminary investigation by city staff members, the City Council acknowledged that costs could be more expensive that initially estimated.

“I’m pleased that the restaurant owners did try to comply with our standards,” said Councilwoman Charlotte Spadaro, who led the effort to ban smoking in restaurants.

“We will still have the highest air quality standards (for restaurants) in the nation,” said Mayor Benjamin H. Stansbury Jr.