Over the summer, Wisconsin became the 28th state in the country to implement a statewide smoking ban for public workplaces, restaurants and bars.
Several bar owners were concerned about the ban and wondered if their smoking customers would find someplace else to hang out. To accommodate those patrons, many bar owners are working on plans to create outdoor patios or other structures to accommodate their smoking patrons.
“Yeah, we’ve definitely seen more taverns and restaurants applying for permits to install some sort of outdoor patio or enclosures,” said Steve Schaer manager of planning and zoning for the City of West Allis. “We have assumed that the ban on smoking in public places has been some sort of catalyst for that both leading up to and following the enactment of the ban.”
The state’s smoking ban law allows smoking at bar entrances and in rooms where at least 25 percent of the walls are made up of open windows.
Schaer indicated that the City of West Allis saw more of an increase in extension of premise and construction permit requests prior to and in preparation for the smoking ban.
“I think initially everyone thought it was going to be a major concern for smoking customers and they wanted to get a head of the game,” he said. “Now requests have tapered off some and people are going to take more of a wait and see type of approach to see what affects the ban has on their business during the winter months.”
Crawdaddy’s Cajun & Creole restaurant located at 6414 W. Greenfield Ave. in West Allis, has received approval from the city to construct an outdoor extension of premise for outdoor dining as well as for smoking customers, but it hasn’t begun the project yet.
“Right now, it would cost us too much to meet all of the restrictions required by the city,” said Tyler Peyton, general manager of the restaurant. “Right now we have nothing to offer our smoking customers. Our sidewalk is too thin, so right now they go out our front door and sit on the benches in the park next door. It’s hard to say what they will do without a heated space during the winter months.”
Crawdaddy’s wanted to create the outdoor dining space for its smoking patrons but also to compete with competitors that have nice outdoor dining areas, Peyton said.
“Eventually we want to construct a deck out into the park next door and be able to serve food and beverages out there,” he said. “We will have a smoking area with a roof and eventually have some heaters out there as well. We’re going to wait and see how (the smoking ban) has affected our business and hope by next spring to have something built out there.”
Dickens Grill, 9646 W. Greenfield Ave.; Brass Monkey, 11904 W. Greenfield Ave.; Yesteryear’s Pub & Grill, 9427 W. Greenfield Ave; and Johnny Hammers on 64th St., and Lincoln Ave. are a few other establishments in West Allis that have requested and or received extension of premise permits to construct outdoor dining patios or spaces.
Greenfield officials have also had an increase in the number of inquiries regarding outdoor patio spaces for smoking customers, said community development manager Chuck Erickson, though many have not translated into actual extension of premise requests.
“Most of our extension of premise requests were approved leading up to the July 5 deadline and probably in the month leading up to the ban, numerable contacts from bars and restaurants were made as they tried to figure out how they could accommodate their smoking patrons,” Erickson said. “Most of them were just brainstorming ways they could do some renovations to accommodate their smoking customers without doing a lot of physical changes before they could tell how it was really going to affect their business.”
According to Erickson, the city had about four or five requests from restaurants and bars that actually came in with architectural plans for structures.
Robin Willms, co-owner of Club Paragon, 3578 S. 108th St. in Greenfield, began the request for premise extension in August of 2009, Club Paragon’s patio extension was completed just before the smoking ban was enacted.
“We pretty much did it knowing that the ban was coming, but also thinking this outdoor extension was always something we wanted to do and the enactment of smoking ban kind of forced the issue,” Willms said.
Club Paragon’s outdoor dining area is a concrete patio and a portion of it has a covered roof, she said.
In the winter, Club Paragon’s patio will be closed for outdoor dining but will be heated under the covered area for smoking customers to use, Willms said.
“Fortunately we haven’t heard a lot of negative comments from our smoking patrons about the ban,” she said. “I think that’s because it’s everywhere. But I do think they appreciate the fact that we do have somewhere for them to go.”
Conversely, Willms has not heard any complaints from non smoking customers about sharing the outdoor patio space with those that smoke.
The Tavern League of Wisconsin has been opposed to the state’s smoking ban. Many bars are adding patios or decks to accommodate their smoking customers, but Tavern League executive director Pete Madland says some municipalities around the state have gone above and beyond the state requirements for a smoking room in an establishment and have made it even more difficult for bars to get permits to construct those.
“Building a smoking room or patio is a solution for many of our member organizations,” he said. “Some can’t even do that because they are landlocked, so to speak, but for the ones who can it seems to be their only option.”
However, Pete Hanson, director of government relations for the Wisconsin Restaurant Association said the smoking ban has been a non-issue for many of the association’s members.
“I think a lot of inquiries about what they could do to accommodate their smoking patrons came last year prior to the ban going into effect,” he said. “But since it’s been enacted not many people have called. Those that have, have called to find out what is legal for them to do.”
The Wisconsin Restaurant Association has more than 7,000 member establishments and only a few dozen have inquired about constructing outdoor spaces for smokers, Hanson said.
“It’s not a large percentage, I think some have asked for advice on what they could do, but most have taken a wait and see approach to the situation,” Hanson said. “Every establishment’s situation is different and they are all handling it differently. They must look at whether or not investing in some type of enclosed shelter for smokers is going to be worth their investment or if maybe they can get away with placing a few cigarette canisters outside. Only time will tell, but smoking customers were given enough time to get used to this policy before winter rolls in.”
