Bar owners say ordinance hurt business; city revenues show increase in liquor sales
Jump to full article: Juneau (AK) Empire, 2009-01-19
Author: Eric Morrison * JUNEAU EMPIRE
Intro: More than a year after the city's clean air ordinance went into effect, people on different sides of the debate continue to disagree about the success of the law that required Juneau's bars to go smoke free.
After years of debate in front of the Assembly, on Jan. 2 of last year all bars were required to ban smoking from their establishments, ushering in a fresh new era of nightlife in the capital.
Marlintini's Lounge owner Ethan Billings, a longtime opponent of the ordinance and member of the Juneau-Lynn Canal Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant & Retailer's Association, said the smoking ban had a negative impact on his business and those of his peers'.
"Sales are down because of it," he said. "I think if you asked any bar owner that would be true."
A number of other issues came to light because of the ordinance, Billings said.
"If anybody has walked around or been in bars lately, the can see there's people outside of every bar in town, whether there is cigarette butts on the ground, loitering, causing disturbances, whatever, it's basically taking customers out of the establishments and into the sidewalks and streets. And that in turn has affected sales negatively."
Ann House, president of the Downtown Business Association, said the ordinance resulted in a number of concerning issues in the downtown business sector.
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