mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636
DURHAM -- At least one business in Durham is moving to become a cigar bar after receiving complaints about smoking.
Rhys Botica, owner of Whiskey, a membership-only bar located in Five Points in downtown, said they hope to get verification from the city by the end of the month.
"It's historically a smoking town," Botica said, "and we are a private club and we don't serve food."
To qualify as a cigar bar under the law to ban smoking in North Carolina, an establishment must generate 60 percent or more of its quarterly gross revenue from the sale of alcoholic beverages and 25 percent or more of the quarterly revenue from cigar sales. The establishment also must have a humidor and not allow anyone under the age of 21 to enter the premises.
Botica said Whiskey has been selling cigars since opening about six months ago.
As of last week, the most recent data from the state showed that eight complaints had been filed in Durham since implementation of the smoking ban Jan. 2.
Those complaints were filed against Brailie's Sports Bar, Whiskey, Tripps Restaurant near Northgate Mall and El Pantano Sports Bar on Geer Street.
Durham County Health Department Director Gayle Harris said Brailie's Sports Bar, the membership bar off N.C. 55 that had received a complaint two weeks ago, has received some educational materials.
The complaint against the bar was filed by the owner of a nearby establishment who worried that since it still allowed smoking, it would take away some of his customers.
Harris said she has spoken with owner Leslie Crabtree, notifying her that since her bar is not a nonprofit, it does not qualify for the "private clubs" exemption. Crabtree did not return a request for comment on Wednesday.
Establishments exempted under the legislation include cigar bars, private clubs that are nonprofit, such as country clubs and the VFW, and tobacco shops.
Statewide, there have been 369 complaints filed, 43 in Wake County and two in Orange County. Guilford County has been deluged with the most complaints of any county in the state -- 74 in the three weeks since the ban has been in place.
In Orange County, Hookah Bliss, a hookah-smoking lounge on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, is still open for business.
Owner Adam Bliss, who has proclaimed that he will go to court if the business gets fined, said he has received educational materials following one complaint.
The bar is still selling alcohol and hookah products, but Bliss said revenue is down because people are under the impression that he has closed because of the ban.
"I get multiple calls every day asking if I'm still around," he said.
The procedure for enforcement of the ban follows that a public health department first send out educational materials on two occasions, following complaints, and then two warnings. If another complaint is filed after the second warning, and the business is found to be not in compliance, it will then be fined $200 daily.
Harris said the Durham department has not heard negative reactions toward the ban from the public and has found that businesses are willing to comply.
Currently, the department sends people to the site of the complaint to check before sending educational materials.
"I still maintain that yes, people have the right to choose, but when people are smoking in restaurants and workers are subjected to it, that's a different matter," Harris said.
