Restaurateurs Fight Laguna Ban on Smoking

Despite enormous opposition from hoteliers and restaurateurs who say businesses will fail if smoking is banned in city eateries, the City Council on Tuesday will consider adopting one of the toughest anti-smoking laws in Southern California.

City officials say their concern is for public health, but members of the business community, who have bombarded council members with hundreds of cards and letters opposing the law, contend that their economic welfare also is at stake.

“They really feel many restaurants will go under,” said Kathleen Spalione, the catering manager for Las Brisas restaurant, who has attended several meetings of the business community since the council signaled its intention to change the law two months ago. “They’re mad. They really have gotten organized on this and they intend to nip it before it happens.”

Although Mayor Neil G. Fitzpatrick has said a total ban on smoking in restaurants is inevitable, opponents of the law say they will be out in force at the City Council meeting to urge the defeat of the measure.

Council member Lida Lenney said she is not convinced that a smoking ban would hurt commerce. The council is charged with protecting public health and safety, she said, and must address the hazards of so-called “secondhand” smoke breathed by nonsmokers.

“It’s hard for me to believe there is going to be a significant number of people who will choose not to come to Laguna Beach and eat in restaurants because we have a no-smoking ordinance,” Lenney said. “For me, it’s a health problem, pure and simple.”

Laguna now requires that 60% of a restaurant’s dining area be reserved for nonsmokers--one of the strictest ordinances of its kind in Orange County. The new law would ban smoking in all indoor eating areas. Patio dining would not be affected.

As proposed, the measure would allow smoking in bars that are separate from the dining area. Smoking, however, would be prohibited when the bar and the dining area are in the same room, as is the case at the popular Cedar Creek restaurant across the street from City Hall.

If passed, Laguna will join the city of Bellflower as having the toughest anti-smoking ordinances in Southern California, according to the League of California Cities. Bellflower, in Los Angeles County, prohibits smoking in restaurants.

Members of the Chamber of Commerce and the Laguna Beach Hospitality Assn., which represent 21 hotels and 75 restaurants in town, say further restrictions are inappropriate in a city that depends on tourism for its economic vitality. A restaurant smoking ban would hurt other businesses as well, they say, because many restaurant customers stay in Laguna Beach hotels and shop in city stores.

“Can you imagine telling those people they can’t smoke when they’re staying in a $300-a-night place on the ocean?” said Becky Carey, president of the local Chamber of Commerce. “I don’t see how we’re going to enforce it.”

Already staggered by high rents and a sluggish tourist season, members of the business community say some businesses cannot withstand another major economic blow.

“We experienced a terrible summer, and most of the people depend on that summer,” said Fouad Ziady, general manager of Las Brisas. “We are going to be laying off people and having a tremendous loss of revenue.”

But others say they would try to dine in Laguna Beach if smoking is banned, Lenney said. One letter to council members in support of the proposed law, predicts that “nonsmoking diners would flock to the city” should smoking be prohibited in restaurants.

Laguna Beach restaurateurs say they would not object to the law as long as their competitors in surrounding communities were similarly restricted. But Newport Beach restaurants are required to reserve only 25% of their seating for nonsmokers and in Dana Point, the percentage is 20%.