Counties to debate
smoking ban bills

Oahu, Kauai and Maui
will consider limits on
lighting up in restaurants

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By Gordon Y.K. Pang and Anthony Sommer
gpang@starbulletin.com | tsommer@starbulletin.com

The latest battle in the restaurant smoking war will be waged at the same time on three fronts.

Members on three of Hawaii's four county councils are introducing legislation that would ban indoor restaurant smoking on Oahu, Kauai and Maui.

Honolulu City Council Chairman Jon Yoshimura is hoping to get up to seven of eight possible Council members' signatures on a bill to be introduced today and expected to be heard for the first time next week.

The bill is similar to one introduced by Councilman John Henry Felix and three others in mid-November after failing to get an all-out restaurant smoking ban by a 5-4 vote earlier last month.

"We're trying to write statewide law by working together as county councils," said Yoshimura, who is expected to run for lieutenant governor next fall.

The bill by Yoshimura, who has been among those who has consistently voted against restaurant smoking legislation, differs from the Felix bill by:

>> Allowing restaurants to apply to be "all smoking" for up to two years under certain conditions. After two years, restaurants must ban smoking indoors but could allow it in outdoor areas.

The conditions include informing the Department of Planning & Permitting and putting up signs telling potential customers that smoking is allowed on the premises. They would also need to put up a separate sign that states, "Please be aware that smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke are detrimental to human health."

>> Barring smoking from indoor bars within or attached to restaurants. Felix's bill would have allowed smoking in all bars.

>> Providing a stringent definition of what constitutes "a separate open area" of a restaurant where smoking would be allowed. For instance, the indoor and outdoor sections must be separated by at least 30 feet of space not enclosed or roofed, or a solid wall constructed of solid material which may have a door or window.

Yoshimura said the bill represents a compromise by attempting to give restaurant owners time to adjust to the change.

"I don't think people are going to chase away the major part of their market to accommodate a few smokers," Yoshimura said.

Some restaurateurs, however, may feel a majority of their clientele does smoke, he said. Yoshimura believes that they will find after two years that they will not need to be a smoking establishment.

Mayor Jeremy Harris, who previously vetoed a restaurant smoking bill, said yesterday he had not seen Yoshimura's bill. However, he said yesterday he now wants to see a compromise restaurant smoking bill of some sort approved before he leaves office next summer.

Proponents stressed that it is unlikely identical results will occur in each county. The Yoshimura bill is seen as just a "starting point" on Maui and Kauai.

"It's going to be different for each island," said Kauai Councilman Jimmy Tokioka, who is pushing the bill in his county. The Kauai County Council has an "informational meeting" on the issue set for tomorrow in the Council chambers.

Tokioka, a restaurant owner, said he is concerned about the health of his employees exposed to secondhand smoke.

He said he will not introduce a bill until he has heard from other restaurant owners, although he conceded not all may be happy with what ultimately is drafted. But he also said the Kauai Tobacco Coalition may not be completely pleased with it either.

Maui Councilman Dain Kane, who will sponsor the bill there, said yesterday it is unlikely to appear on a Council agenda until January and, like Friday's meeting on Kauai, likely will be the subject of several informational meetings before it reaches bill form.

Patrick McCain, president of the Hawaii Restaurant Association, said his organization opposes the new bill. The most onerous part, he said, is the banning of smoking in bars within restaurants.

Clifford Chang, director of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii, said his board has not yet voted to support the bill.