Smoke Extinguisher : Ojai: Some customers are angry and restaurant owners are wary as the city begins enforcement today of a ban on cigarettes that is the toughest in the county.

The toughest smoking ordinance in Ventura County goes into effect today in Ojai, where restaurant owners worry about how it will affect business at their struggling operations.

“It’s either going to help it or kill it,” said Joseph Borgaro, who owns the Ojai Valley Bowl, a bowling alley and restaurant, with his wife, Cherie. “We are in trouble as it is. We don’t have time to sit here and play games.”

Borgaro said half of the bowlers who play in nightly leagues at the bowling alley are smokers.

If they decide to knock pins elsewhere, his business could land in the gutter, he said.

In November, the Ojai City Council strengthened the city’s smoking ordinance by prohibiting smoking not only in restaurants, but also in restaurant dining patios, city parks and other outdoor public areas.

The ordinance also was expanded to include smoking in sports arenas, including bowling alleys.

As of today, the city will issue citations to businesses and individuals who violate the law, said Assistant City Manager Dan Singer.

A first offense will result in a $50 fine, with larger fines for subsequent violations.

Singer said it is unlikely individuals will be cited, but businesses will be fined if they fail to keep people from smoking in their establishments.

The Borgaros said they will comply with the city’s demands, directing patrons into the bowling area’s adjacent lounge if they want to smoke. Smoking will be prohibited in the restaurant and bowling areas.

“We’re trying to abide by this thing,” Joseph Borgaro said. “It’s not that we disagree with the rule. All we ask is that (the city) let us work with the bowlers.”

Many nonsmokers among the bowling regulars are thrilled by the ordinance.

“I’m delighted,” said Jacque Pisciotta, who has bowled at the Ojai Valley Bowl for over six years.

She said the smokers have made her participation in the sport uncomfortable. “They feel their rights are bring taken away, but our rights are being taken away too by having to breathe their smoke.”

Jo Stalder has endured the smoke-filled bowling alley for nine years and is thankful for the strict ordinance. “The one thing I hate about going to the bowling alley is I come home smelling like smoke,” she said. But Cherie Borgaro said the new law comes at a bad time for struggling businesses like hers.

“Here we are trying to beat our brains to get people in the building and the city’s trying to get them out,” she said.

With 16 weeks left in the league season, Borgaro said she has begged the bowlers who smoke not to walk out on them.

But some are angry enough to do just that.

“I won’t bowl after tonight,” longtime bowler and smoker Joanne Barnes said Thursday. Barnes has bowled at the Ojai lanes for 19 years, but because she is angry at the city, she said she will simply stop bowling. “I just don’t think they have the right” to ban smoking.

Other local businesses are waiting to see how aggressively the city will enforce the ordinance.

“We’re going to try to accommodate this, but it’s going to be difficult,” said Jim Allen, general manager of the Soule Park Golf Course. “I don’t see how I can comply 100% right away.” Major structural remodeling is necessary for the course’s bar and restaurant area to comply with the city ordinance. A wall will have to be built and individual ventilation systems installed. For now, a temporary partition will divide the smoking and nonsmoking rooms.

Allen said he is still negotiating with the owners of the clubhouse over the restructuring and said the city needs to be patient. “It’s not like all of a sudden we can build a wall and it’s over with.”

As passed, the ordinance even prohibits golfers from smoking on fairways, but the city is reconsidering that provision, Singer said.

He said local businesses have had ample time--60 days--to make adjustments. But the city is willing to work with them, he said.

“We’re not going to be very strict, but we want the intention of the ordinance met,” Singer said. “We’re kind of at mercy to the level of cooperation we get.”

The city has notified 650 local businesses by mail, Singer said, and city workers visited at least 25 personally to educate proprietors about the ordinance. He said the city has received no formal complaints, although he has heard a lot of grumbling.

Allen said he is concerned about losing customers at Soule Park. “We’ve had customers come to us and say, ‘If you aren’t going to accommodate us, we aren’t going to come here.’ ”

An Ojai resident for 49 years, Helen Sieger has been a regular at the golf course’s restaurant. She said she frequently enjoys an afternoon drink and smoke there with her husband.

But with the new smoking restrictions, she said, she won’t be coming as often. “I think it’s ridiculous . . . but I suppose I’ll get used to it.”