“The general reaction, from the view of the public, and back to us, has been generally positive with very limited complaints,” Griffin said, “mainly just questions.”
Perhaps the most pressing question has come from businesses that seek exemption from the smoking ordinance altogether.
According to the ordinance, smoking is banned from all indoor areas where the general public has access. Private residences, hotel and motel rooms, retail tobacco stores and private clubs, however, are just a few of the areas where smoking is allowed.
Most exemption questions have dealt with private clubs, Griffin said, and what differentiates a club from any other establishment. Finding that difference can be difficult and in many cases it means business representatives need to meet with city officials to define the term.
“To qualify under the exemption, you have to look to what the definition of a private club is because for the purposes of the ordinance, private clubs are defined in a certain way,” Griffin said. “It’s not just that you have qualified through the IRS as a private club, but you must also have certain bylaws that are enforced, the way that people are elected, what is the purpose of the private club.”
The purpose of a business depends, Griffin said, on whether it exists simply to make a monetary profit or otherwise benefit its members or some other beneficiary. If an establishment has a bar or restaurant facilities, they have to definitively show they are different from what would otherwise be considered a restaurant.
Out of Bounds Sports Bar and Grill on South Irby Street is one private club that has asked the city if it qualifies for an exemption. A manager said the bar is affiliated with the Florence Humane Society, and because of that affiliation it should be exempt from enforcing the ban.
Out of Bounds’ owners could not be reached for comment, but managers said they are discussing the issue with the city.
But Griffin pointed out that what makes the smoking ordinance unique is it is a “complaint driven” system, meaning that the city will only know a business is violating the ordinance if a citizen issues a formal complaint.
Once a complaint is submitted to the city manager’s office, the city fire department is in charge of investigating, Griffin said. If the business is found to have violated the ordinance, a municipal summons is delivered to that business by police, just like other summons issued before the ban took effect.
Griffin said many establishments have responded positively to the new ordinance, especially restaurants that say it’s clarified what was a touchy subject before the ban.
“Most were kind of glad that they knew what the rule was,” Griffin said. “That it established sort of an equalized playing field between the restaurant business and it created conflict within the restaurant business between MT smokers and non-smokers.”
Griffin said his office distributed literature to every business in the city prior to the enforcement started Nov. 1. That info was paid for by a DHEC grant, Griffin said, and it has apparently done the trick.
No tickets for the new ordinance have been issued as of Dec. 29.
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