 "Photo: Kim Burnstad")
The economic impact of the smoking ban on bars and restaurants hangs over business owners like a dark cloud.
A proposed blanket anti-smoking ordinance is set for May's city election ballot, setting the stage for further debate on the potential effects of the ban on Austin's bar and music industry.
A call to arms has been made by Elysium owner John Wickham, who joined the city council race for Place 4 as a representative of Keep Austin Free, a coalition of bar and restaurant owners who oppose the proposed initiative.
Marc Katz, owner of Katz's Deli and Bar, said the effects of the existing smoking ordinance have been debilitating, coming close to putting him out of business.
The current ordinance allows bars and restaurants to obtain a $3,000 permit to allow smoking after meeting requirements. Bars must make at least 70 percent of their revenue from alcohol sales, and restaurants must have fully ventilated smoking sections. Katz's does not have a permit.
Katz said he has become almost grudgingly supportive of the proposed ordinance, saying it would at least level the playing field for the business he loses to neighboring restaurants. However, he said the Austin music scene would be destroyed by such a ban.
Katz said his bar sales went down 60 percent after the existing ordinance went into place. He doesn't believe legislation should place regulations on how he can run his business, he said.
"Katz's never closes," he said, referring to his signature sign-off. "This is the statement I'm going to have to use: Katz's never forecloses."
Philip Huang, chronic disease medical officer for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said the fear about the effects of a smoking ban was "a lot of doom and gloom."
"Everyone's going to say the sky's going to fall," he said.
Current economic impact studies about smoking bans swing both ways. A 2003 study commissioned by the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association said the city's smoking ban ordinance decreased alcohol sales and negatively impacted restaurant revenue. The study focused on the suburb of Carrollton and gathered information from alcoholic beverage sales data, a study by the restaurant association and press reports from the businesses.
However, Huang reviewed the report and cited major flaws within the study. The study said it lumped together all types of restaurants and did not discriminate sales tax data from fast food joints, bars and steak houses. Huang said the Texas Comptroller's office does provide a breakdown of restaurant categories, and the raw data on Dallas restaurant and bar sales were enough to discredit the study. He said the decreasing sales trend was already in place before the ordinance came into effect, and he questioned if Carrollton really represented the greater Dallas area.
"The only ones that are really hurt are the tobacco industry, because people do cut down on smoking," he said. Huang said there have also been cases where tobacco companies have financially supported restaurant associations like Dallas' to create such studies.
"It's sort of an excuse in terms of public health," he said.
Huang published another report about the impact of El Paso's smoking ban and said there were no significant changes after the ban was implemented. He said Austin will soon be like everywhere else in the country that is smoke-free.
However, some of the cities with smoking bans still fight for a place to light up. In New York, bar owners and smoking advocates were furious after a New York Times article published earlier this month called the smoking ban "less reviled." The article said a new social crowd had been created outside of bars by smokers.
"That's demeaning, to be pushed out on the street, and to be called that in a good way," said Audrey Silk, founder of New York's Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment. She said CLASH would continue to lobby for an amendment at the state level.
Austin bar owners filed a lawsuit last month against the city to stop the petition from appearing on the ballot. However, after Thursday's hearing, Paul Silver, owner of bar 219 West and one of the plaintiffs, said they wouldn't have a claim until after the petition passes.
"We actually have to have economic damage and have businesses fail before we can go to state law and federal [courts]," he said. "It's like if somebody was stalking you; it's that kind of frustration that we're experiencing."
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