Potential ban yields mixed
feelings among biz owners
ban smoking at N.J.
bars and restaurants
By vincent todaro
Staff Writer
EAST BRUNSWICK — State legislation that would ban smoking in bars and restaurants has some local businesses hoping the idea goes up in smoke.
The Senate bill, proposed in February by state Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen) and state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), is similar to recent legislation enacted in New York and would prohibit smoking in all public New Jersey restaurants and bars. Even the senators who proposed it admit it has some roadblocks before becoming law, however.
And one of those roadblocks is those business owners who argue the ban would harm their businesses, in some cases quite dramatically, because it would chase away smokers.
"They are literally banning the bar," said Parag Kafhiparekh, co-owner of the Crestwood bar at Main Street and Old Bridge Turnpike in South River. He said most of his bar patrons come to drink and smoke, and he is worried the law change would discourage them from visiting his business.
"They’ll just kill the businesses," he said of the proposed law.
Kafhiparekh said his establishment already has a place for non-smokers to sit in the restaurant section of his business, which he has co-owned for four years.
Rick Hyman, general manager for the Olive Garden Italian Restaurant on Route 18 in East Brunswick, said he is not worried about the potential ban’s effect on his business, because the number of people smoking while dining has decreased over the years.
He said the restaurant now has only eight tables where people can smoke. That means a maximum of 30 out of 260 possible patrons can be smoking at the Olive Garden.
"We just don’t have the requests anymore," Hyman said. "It’s naturally going in that direction on its own."
Nowadays, people are more considerate of those they dine with, he said, and thus will choose not to smoke during meals.
"They defer to their friends, which didn’t use to happen," he said.
He said the Olive Garden has cut back on the number of tables in the smoking section because the demand decreased.
"We couldn’t fill the smoking tables anymore. I think it’s a trend in restaurants. I think that’s pretty typical," he said.
The restaurant has a bar where smoking is permitted, but most people are only there a short time while they wait for a table, he said.
Hyman said he believes it is only a matter of time before the ban is enacted in New Jersey.
"I don’t think it’s necessarily beneficial to the restaurant, but I think it’s something that will happen eventually," he said.
While some restaurants may come away unscathed, not everyone believes they will.
"If I were a bar owner, I’d feel differently [about the bill]," he said.
Don Brown, who owns Ram’s Head Tavern on Main Street in South River, said he is very much opposed to the bill.
"I think people should be allowed to do what they want, given the choice. You can just go to a non-smoking venue," Brown said.
Brown described the tavern as an upscale martini and cigar lounge that offers appetizers but is not a restaurant. He said the proposed law change would "have negative effects" on his business.
"A good percentage of the customers do smoke and like the idea that they can go somewhere and smoke a cigar," he said, adding that his tavern also sells cigars.
The bill is only one among several that could affect smoking in public places like restaurants and bars.
Like Hyman, Cardinale said he believes passage of some law restricting smoking is an eventuality.
"I believe some form [of the bill] will be passed within a year or two," he said.
He said he has already encountered opposition to it, and feels that, if passed, the bill would be changed for the benefit of those opposed.
Provisions in the bill already show lenience toward owners and managers. For instance, they are not subject to any legal action if smoking does take place, unless it involves an employee. Owners would only be responsible for posting "no smoking" signs that are visible to all patrons.
Smoking would still be permitted at restaurants and bars being used for private affairs so long as the smoking area is separated from the nonsmoking section by a floor-to-ceiling wall.
Owners and managers would not be responsible for enforcing the law. If customers are smoking, only a municipal or county heath official or other public employee could force them to stop. If a smoker refuses, the fine would be $25 at most.
Kafhiparekh said the law would create a new problem for business owners, though.
"They’ll throw cigarette butts in the streets and parking lots," he said of patrons forced to smoke outside. "We’ll have a new job to do."
Hyman said the ban would not encourage non-smokers to start patronizing restaurants.
"I don’t think people will come out in droves because there’s no smoking here," he said.
Brown said he figured that, after the New York law passed, a similar one would follow in New Jersey. He said his understanding of the New York law is that it did not affect all businesses equally.
"If you could show that a certain percentage of your business came from the sale of cigars, they would allow you to continue," he said.