Butt Out

When Oakland’s Mad Mex restaurant and bar became exclusively non-smoking in March, it did so… When Oakland’s Mad Mex restaurant and bar became exclusively non-smoking in March, it did so for moral reasons. Now, some other Oakland establishments must follow suit, a new state law says.

The Clean Indoor Air Act, signed by Gov. Ed Rendell last Friday, will ban smoking in most public buildings and work places throughout the state but will not have a sweeping effect on Oakland businesses because of an exemption.

Bars or taverns that make less than 20 percent of its total sales from food are immune from the ban.

Oakland venues, including Boomerang’s, Garage Door Saloon and Bootleggers, all of which make little to no food sales, will run as usual, while restaurant/bars like Peter’s Pub, Fuel ‘amp; Fuddle, Joe Mama’s and Primanti Brothers will have to be smoke-free under the law, which takes effect on Sept. 11, 90 days after Rendell’s signing.

‘Unfortunately, we’re upset there are exemptions,’ said Tom Baron, owner of big Burrito Restaurant Group, which includes Mad Mex.

‘I think what it says is that they care about the health of some employees but not all employees,’ he said.

Baron made the switch to non-smoking March 1, when one of his employees became pregnant. Baron said he was sick of waiting for the state or county to pass a smoking ban and decided to make all of his restaurants non-smoking.

‘It was the right thing to do,’ he said.

Instead of smoking sections and non-smoking sections, Oakland customers will have to choose between smoking bars and non-smoking bars.

Peter Leventis, co-owner of Peter’s Pub on Oakland Avenue, said he makes much more than 20 percent of his sales from food.

‘I’m not happy with it, because I think it should be across the board, not just 20 percent food,’ said Leventis.

He said he plans to comply but does not think it can be enforced in every bar.

‘It’s going to be enforced, but I don’t know how strict at first because they don’t have enough people to do it,’ he said. ‘There’s over 2,000 liquor licenses in Allegheny County.’

Seth Plyer, a manager at Primanti Brothers, said he thinks the new state law is unfair and creates an inconvenience for his employees, who all smoke, except for two.

‘It creates an unlevel playing field. Now you can go to some places to smoke but not others,’ he said. ‘For the drinkers who want to go out and smoke, it will certainly send business to the bars that make less than 20 percent of their sales from food.

‘I think it should just be left up to the individual business owners,’ he said.

Chuck Ardo, a spokesperson for Rendell, said that the law will reduce cases of secondhand smoke.

‘In the most practical terms, it will reduce medical costs as fewer Pennsylvanians are subject to the diseases that exposure to secondhand smoke causes,’ he said.

While the ban was enacted for health reasons, Ardo said that owners of establishments with low food sales lobbied for their exemption with financial arguments.

Vic Bovalino, director of operations for Joe Mama’s, Fuel ‘amp; Fuddle and Uncle Sam’s Subs, all located on Oakland Avenue, said because this is a statewide ban, he thinks the ban will not harm his business.

Ardo said that Rendell would support attempts in the legislature that would allow Allegheny County and Scranton to impose their own laws, which could be stronger than the state’s law.

Both state Sen. Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, and state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, have publicly said they will push for legislation allowing Allegheny County and other local governments to pass stricter smoking bans.

When Rendell signed the act, he wrote a message: ‘Although I enthusiastically signed this bill, I do share the concerns of many of our citizens, and some legislators, who think we can and should do better.’

The law reads that other exceptions include certain sections of gaming halls and casinos, private residences that aren’t used as day care centers, tobacco shops, cigar bars and private clubs.