Restaurateurs Oppose Total Ban on Smoking : Government: Diners and drinkers should have a choice, proposed ordinance’s foes say.

Bar and restaurant managers of San Diego are worried that their business incomes will be singed by a city ordinance othat would ban smoking in bars, restaurants, and other workplaces.

Several restaurateurs held a press conference Monday to voice their opposition before the City Council decides Oct. 26 whether the existing ban on tobacco smoking is enough, requiring at least 50% of the tables in restaurants be set aside for nonsmokers. The new ordinance would impose a 100% ban on smoking tobacco in almost all enclosed public places.

The Task Force for a Smoke-free San Diego County supports the ordinance as a breath of fresh air for the city and plans its own press conference today to present what it says are new findings about smoke-free restaurants.

“There’s no question to the argument of secondary smoke” being a health hazard, said Stuart Lichtenstein, regional manager of Bice restaurants, a nationwide chain with a new restaurant in San Diego. “But the person has a choice. There are nonsmoking restaurants, and nonsmoking sections.”

But Elsa Siverts, owner of the Greek Tycoon restaurant in San Diego, said in an interview that 12 years as a waitress did not lessen how tobacco smoke bothers her.

“I used to cough all the time,” said Siverts, who did not participate in the restaurant industry press conference. “I don’t like the smell. You’d go home and your clothes smell like smoke. But what can you do?”

Siverts said she allows smoking in her restaurant, where she was a waitress for six years before becoming an owner, but would like to stop the trend.

“If we can propose that we can stop them, that would be great,” she said, “because it is better for their health.”

Still, many businesses downtown see themselves as catering to convention center business, which brings in out-of-towners who often smoke.

“Our market in San Diego is a lot of foreign visitors,” Lichtenstein said. “That clientele clearly does smoke.”

Lichtenstein joined several colleagues at a press conference Monday in San Diego to voice concerns about the proposal.

Mary Pappas, owner of Athens Market Taverna, where she met with colleagues for a press conference Monday, said convention schedulers might avoid San Diego because of the no-smoking inconvenience.

Concerns were also raised that people driving to dinner would pass San Diego by to go to a restaurant in a neighboring city that allows smoking. Solana Beach is the only other city in the county to have implemented a smoking ban. Del Mar is considering a smoking ban, after a similar prohibition was narrowly voted down six years ago.

Ronald Rosa, a board member of the San Diego Restaurant Assn. said the association members would support a statewide ban, but isolating San Diego would push customers elsewhere. Even a statewide ban might push customers toward Tijuana, she said.

If the ordinance passes, San Diego would be the largest city in California to be smoke-free, said Debbie Kelley of the American Lung Assn. Kelly said 15 California cities ban smoking, although some have exceptions in bars or lobbies.

Statistics taken from a short-lived ban in Beverly Hills showed that restaurants increased revenues during the June through August ban, Kelley said. However, the numbers may reflect seasonal and other industry changes, she said.

Lichtenstein, speaking after a press conference with several colleagues, said the comparison with Beverly Hills included fast food restaurants, and noted the statistics couldn’t predict what effect the ban in San Diego might have on restaurants where people dine for longer than two hours.

The comparison with the Assembly’s decision to ban smoking on airplanes is tough to make with restaurants that have windows and ventilation, Pappas said. The planes are an enclosed place where the smoke would bother people, and there is little choice with airlines, but a great number of restaurants allow a choice, Pappas said.

Restaurant and bar owners would probably be willing to make a compromise, such as limiting the smokers to the bar areas, Lichtenstein said, adding that there has been little county-business discussion on the issue. He said a lawsuit may be brought if council members pass the ordinance. He and several colleagues plan to go to the City Council meeting and try to at least have some discussion on the issue, Lichtenstein said.

Lichtenstein also questioned the ability to enforce the ordinance and noted he had never seen anyone checking for compliance at restaurants for the current “50-50” requirements.

Mary Pappas said, “Instead of police chasing criminals, they’ll be chasing smokers.”