Nixa smoking ban ignites restaurateurs

Opponents say the ban is an unfair burden on city business owners, putting them at a disadvantage compared to their Christian County counterparts.

The ordinance, passed by Nixa’s Board of Aldermen in April, places a complete ban on smoking in all nonresidences, including bars, restaurants and businesses in the Nixa city limits, except for restaurants with outdoor seating.

The idea of a smoking ordinance for Nixa was presented to the board by Dr. Jim Blaine, who was part of the effort to pass similar ordinances in Springfield and Bolivar. Blaine, of Springfield, said he was representing Charlie and Mary Beth O’Reilly. Charlie O’Reilly, vice chairman of O’Reilly Automotive’s board of directors, and wife Mary Beth, founder and board chairwoman of Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks, are Nixa residents.

Nixa Mayor Doug Marrs said the city gauged public opinion through the use of a questionnaire sent to residents in their utility bills. About 75 percent of those questioned said they favor a smoking ban.

Blaine said the ban is about more than protecting patrons.

“For us it’s a workplace issue,” he said. “We don’t think that any worker should have to choose between his or her health and earning a living.”

Hardship for business?

Omar Barron, owner of Longhorn Grill locations in Springfield and Lebanon, said the ban forced him to close his Nixa location.

“They didn’t understand that most of our business didn’t come from inside the Nixa city limits – it came from outlying areas,” Barron said.

Barron plans to open a third Longhorn Grill at 203 E. Kearney St., in a former Mr. Goodcents location, in August. “We knew we couldn’t survive without smoking – it accounted for more than 60 percent of our (Nixa) business,” he said.

Proponents, however, aren’t convinced that consequences of a smoking ban will be quite as dire for restaurant owners.

Blaine said he’s not surprised by the reaction of local restaurant owners to the ban.

“That’s generally a paranoia that has not been proven,” Blaine said. “In fact, it’s been proven quite the opposite – business remains either neutral or improves. It’s a ploy that’s been perpetuated by the tobacco industry.”

Springfield passed its own smoking ban – specific to restaurants – in 2003, and city Director of Health Kevin Gipson said the effect was not negative. Total restaurant sales in Springfield increased 9.3 percent in the first three months after the ban was enacted, according to a study done by the Springfield-Greene County Health Department in September 2004.

“The idea that people are going to travel outside the city of Springfield to a restaurant where they can smoke hasn’t happened,” Gipson said. “And now with fuel costs, people certainly aren’t willing to do that.”

Exemptions

The Springfield ban, however, has several exceptions for restaurants. Any eatery with a separate, fully enclosed smoking area with its own ventilation system is exempt. Any restaurant that gets more than 50 percent or more than $200,000 of its revenue from alcohol sales also is exempt, as is any private club or dining facility and any eatery with less than 50 seats.

Gipson said that about 90 establishments – or roughly 10 percent of the licensed restaurants in Springfield – are exempt from the smoking ban.

The result of those exceptions is mixed. Some Springfield restaurant owners feel that the exemptions create unfair advantages for some of their peers.

“It definitely caused an unfair shift between some businesses that can (allow smoking) and some that can’t,” said Joe Sunseri, owner of Valentine’s Restaurant and acting president of the Springfield Independent Restaurant Association. “It has caused some inconvenience for some restaurateurs.”

Longhorn Grill owner Barron, however, said he wished Nixa’s ordinance included such exemptions.

“The way (our) business in Nixa was laid out, we could have easily had a smoking and a nonsmoking room,” Barron said. “I would have never dreamed that Nixa would come up with this ordinance on their own when we opened there, but I thought that even if they did, they would have followed Springfield’s lead.”

While Sunseri said a full ban would level the playing field, he also summed up the feelings of many restaurant owners in both Springfield and Nixa.

“It would be better if they just let everyone do what they wanted to,” he said. “That would be fairer.”[[In-content Ad]]