A new twist in the smoking ban saga would allow people to light up on restaurants' outdoor patios and decks.
That's because the mandatory 15-foot nonsmoking area outside public doorways could be reduced to just five feet.
"That will be great for us," said Rick Carrozzi, general manager of Roland's Seafood Grill, where on a warm night the patio overlooking Penn Avenue in the Strip District is full of drinkers.
"Instead of going somewhere down the street, they might come here knowing they can smoke," he said.
Allegheny County Council will vote on the measure tomorrow, which would be another change to the proposed countywide smoking ban, slated to take effect Jan. 2.
The ban will prohibit smoking in nearly all businesses, including most bars and restaurants, as well as public places like stadiums and theaters.
Although a line in the ordinance bans smoking "in any workplace," the county health department and council leaders said the prohibition will apply only to indoor, or "enclosed," places.
"That was our intention, to make this strictly an indoor issue," said county council President Rich Fitzgerald, D-Squirrel Hill, the ordinance's primary sponsor.
But the leader of Smoke Free Allegheny, a nonprofit set up by the county health department to run education programs, said the ban should include outside patios if waiters or waitresses work there.
"I think the intent was that they be included," said Smoke Free Allegheny executive director Cindy Thomas.
Fitzgerald said he expects bars and restaurants to build patios and outside seating areas as a way to keep smokers coming back.
"We've heard of that consequence in other cities that passed smoking bans," he said.
Some bar managers and the head of the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association said that's not likely as long as legal disputes over the ban remain unsettled.
Association president Kevin Joyce, who owns the Carlton restaurant, Downtown, said he doesn't believe the ban will ever take effect because of a state law that many say prohibits counties from enacting such legislation.
"We just don't believe it's legal, so there's no use planning for it now. Not until a statewide ban is passed," he said.
"A lot of people don't have faith that it's ever going to happen, so I think everyone is just waiting to see," said Jason Sipe, a manager at Fuel & Fuddle in Oakland.
Owners of smaller bars are less concerned with building decks than they are over an amendment to the ban that allows smoking in taverns that get less than 10 percent of their revenues from food.
"If it happens, it should be fair and be for everyone," said Ryan Mulvaney, a manager at Peter's Pub in Oakland. "That's what we're worried about."
Joyce and several county officials said they expect someone to file a lawsuit soon challenging the county's right to enact the law.
Additional Information:
Take it outside
An amendment to the Allegheny County smoking ban would remove a prohibition on smoking within 15 feet of all entrances to buildings. Lighting up would instead be banned within five feet of an entrance, allowing smoking in most outside seating areas at bars and restaurants.The amendment passed County Council's health and human services committee on Thursday and will be considered by the full council tomorrow.
