Ventura Council Debates Proposed Ban on Smoking : Ordinance: Members weigh health concerns with interests of restaurateurs who say compliance would be too costly.

Weighing health concerns of secondhand smoke against business interests, the Ventura City Council continued to debate late Monday night over a proposed ordinance that would ban smoking at all businesses and restaurants, with the exception of bars.

Council members were trying to formulate a law that would satisfy nonsmoking advocates who argue that a ban is necessary to protect residents’ health, and restaurateurs who say complying with a ban would be too costly.

Councilman Gregory L. Carson offered a compromise that would give restaurants a year to comply with the proposed smoking ban. The law would be implemented in three months for all other businesses.

Under Carson’s plan, it would also be easier for restaurants to be considered as a “bar” as defined by the proposed law and thus be exempt from the ban.

Carson said restaurateurs have persuaded him that the smoking ban would cause financial hardship because they would lose customers and it would be costly to wall off bars and install separate ventilation systems.

“I want to make it as easy as possible on them,” he said before the meeting.

About 50 nonsmoking advocates, business owners and city residents joined in the debate Monday night, taking turns to present their views to the council.

“Everybody knows it’s bad for you. No nonsmokers should have to endure anyone’s smoke,” said Gary Yanez, 35, a musician from Ventura.

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Lynette Flores, who owns Tony’s Steak and Seafood on Thompson Boulevard, said the smoking ban would hurt her restaurant dramatically because 60% of her customers smoke.

“I feel there are enough nonsmoking restaurants in Ventura to accommodate nonsmokers,” Flores said. “I think it is the business person’s right to make the decision” on banning smoking.

Last month, the council gave preliminary approval to a strict smoking ban that would compel restaurateurs to comply within three months. Exempted bars were defined as establishments that receive less than 25% of their gross receipts from food sales.

But after restaurateurs mounted a lobbying campaign, Carson suggested exempting more establishments from the ban by changing the definition of a bar. Under the Carson compromise, a business that serves alcohol and receives less than 35% of its gross receipts from food sales would be considered a bar that is exempt from the smoking ban.

Nonsmoking advocates said they were disappointed by Carson’s compromise.

“Changing the percentage is a way to exempt a lot of restaurants,” said Fred Bysshe, a Ventura attorney who heads the Smoking Action Coalition.

Some restaurateurs said they were happy with the compromise; others said the ban would hurt them financially.

Jack Rome, manager of the King and I Restaurant on Main Street, said he would prefer no ban at all, but noted that his restaurant qualifies as a bar under the compromise.

“We would be exempt,” Rome said before the meeting. “I still don’t like it. I don’t need Big Brother running my life.”

The proposed ban prohibits smoking in all workplaces and restaurants except in outdoor seating areas. Restaurants with bar areas would have to wall off the bar and install a separate ventilation system if smoking is to be permitted at the bar.

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The council on Monday also debating whether to waive building permit fees for constructing walls and air-conditioning systems in restaurants that want to allow smoking in their bars.

In addition, the council was considering exempting restaurants from laws requiring the building to be upgraded to all city standards. Usually, once renovations begin in a building, property owners are required to upgrade other parts of the building to meet stricter seismic safety codes and other new standards.

But city officials said they would not be able to waive state and federal requirements once construction begins. Restaurateurs said they are worried about the costs of potential upgrade requirements, such as providing access for disabled people.

Similar anti-smoking laws have been adopted by Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Ojai and Ventura County.