GALVESTON — City council members unexpectedly adopted one of the state’s strictest smoking bans July 23, effectively snuffing out a popular cigar bar still struggling to reopen after Hurricane Ike wiped it out almost a year ago.
The proposed ordinance was comparable to similar laws in other Texas cities, prohibiting people from lighting up in restaurants and bars.
But as part of a surprise political bargain struck to secure enough votes to get the ban passed, the council extended the smoking prohibition to private clubs, outdoor seating areas and tobacco stores.
Although many business owners were caught off guard by the last-minute additions, few have lodged complaints at city hall, officials said. Most can adapt to the new rules, even if they don’t like them, the officials said.
But Charlie Head, whose financial model was based on customers smoking their purchases at Havana Alley Cigar Shop, is scrambling to find a way to stay in business.
Surprise Vote
Head planned to open his store at 21st and Postoffice streets in early September. Although selling high-end cigars is profitable, Head relies heavily on monthly subscriptions from customers who keep their cigars in lockers at the shop where they come with their friends to smoke.
He signed a five-year lease and spent thousands of dollars on furniture and building supplies just before the ban was passed on July 23.
He didn’t expect the ordinance to fail, but after talking to several city council members, he thought he would get the exemption he needed to stay in business. Most other cities that have bans allow smoking in tobacco stores.
He was shocked when his own councilman ended up being the one to sink his plans, he said.
Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas and council members Elizabeth Beeton and Karen Mahoney, who all supported the ban, were willing to let it pass with an exemption for tobacco stores. But Tarris Woods, whose district includes the downtown area, insisted the ban be applied to everyone to make it completely fair.
Councilwoman Linda Colbert, who had said previously she supported the ban, did not attend the meeting, and members Danny Weber and Susan Fennewald said they planned to vote against it.
Needing Woods’ vote to get the ordinance passed, Thomas, Beeton and Mahoney agreed to extend the ban to tobacco stores.
Just One Guy
“This whole thing came down to just one guy,” Head said, standing in the middle of his still-empty store.
Head said he tried to reach out to Woods before the meeting to earn his support, but the councilman never called him back.
Woods, who said he has a reputation for returning all his calls, said the snub wasn’t intentional.
But after talking to the leaders of the two downtown business groups, the Historic Downtown Strand Seaport Partnership and The Strand Merchants Association, Woods said he felt comfortable calling for a full ban for everyone.
Other business groups, including the Galveston Chamber of Commerce and hotel and restaurant owners, supported the ban, as long as it didn’t include any loopholes that would give one business an advantage over any other.
“I wanted to come down on what I thought was fair,” Woods said.
Woods, who is a smoker, said the decision was difficult because his vote limited his own ability to light up in public.
Hoping For Changes
Head plans to try to persuade the council to reconsider the exemption for tobacco stores, even involving the national advocacy group Cigar Rights of America.
If other industry groups got involved, the lobbying effort might turn into legal action, even though that wasn’t his intention, Head said.
None of the council members has so far made an attempt to get the smoking ordinance back on the agenda to make changes to it, Thomas said.
If anyone tries, Woods said he would fight to have the whole ordinance repealed.
Not Giving Up
Head has until Jan. 1, when the ordinance takes effect, to lobby the council for an exemption.
If that doesn’t work, his cigar shop will have to become a restaurant or a bar, he said.
But he’s not giving up on his business.
“If no smoking is no smoking, we’ll go a different route,” he said. “But I do know there’s a lot of customers affected by it. A lot of people are calling me every day asking me what they can do.
“All I can tell them is to e-mail the council members. That’s all you can do.”
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Smoking Is Prohibited
• Restaurants
• Bars
• Outdoor seating areas attached to a restaurant, bar or sidewalk cafe
• Private clubs
• Tobacco stores
• Retail stores and workplaces
• Service lines
• Bus stops
• Bingo halls
• Bowling alleys
• Lobbies, halls and common areas in hotels, condos and apartment buildings
• Sports arenas, including outdoors
• City parks
• Within 15 feet of a business entrance or open window
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Lighting Up Is Allowed
• At home
• In a private vehicle
• The sidewalk, as long as you don’t stop within 15 feet of a business entrance
• Hotel rooms designated for smokers, as long as they do not make up more than 20 percent of available rooms
• Private or semiprivate room in a nursing home or long-term care facility
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Penalties
• Police officers can issue a $500 fine for smoking in prohibited areas. The fine could be as high as $2,000 if the offense is intentional.
• Business owners who allow smoking will be fined $200 for the first violation, $400 for the second and $500 for each consecutive violation in a 12-month period.
• All businesses are required to post no smoking signs by Jan. 1.
