Smoking ban violators to see $100 fines

The smoking ban was given a new facet Tuesday when city officials announced increased enforcement and two $100 penalties for violators.\nBloomington police officers will soon work to enforce the city's smoking ban that came into effect at bars, clubs and restaurants in January of this year. Bloomington police officers will conduct random inspections and issue fines for every violation -- one for the smoker and one for the establishment where the infraction took place, according to a statement from the city.\nUntil now, smoking citations were only issued after a complaint had been lodged against a smoker, in which case the city would issue a citation to the restaurant at which the violation occurred.\nMayor Mark Kruzan is disappointed that it has come to this point, but repeated violations necessitate increased enforcement, according to a statement.\nLinda Prall, owner of Kilroy's on Kirkwood and Kilroy's Sports, said she doesn't think the extra effort is necessary and doesn't believe this was the intent of the ban in the first place. \nPrall said her interpretation of the ban's intent was to protect the health of customers and employees, not to provide another "revenue source" for the city. \n"We haven't had any problems with smoking," Prall said. "We have signs all over the place and our employees as well as our customers seem to do enough policing for us." \nIU freshman Dale Garfinkel agrees with the increased enforcement. He said he believes students have been complying with the ban.\n"Most of the smoking that goes on in bars is casual anyway," Garfinkel said. "Hardcore smokers can just go outside. It's nice coming home and not smelling like an ashtray."\nPrall also believes Kilroy's customers have been compliant with the ban. She said anyone who lights up inside is usually reprimanded by patrons before Kilroy's employees have a chance to ask for the cigarette to be put out. \n"We have good customers here," Prall said. "It hasn't been a big issue."\nHowever, Prall said patrons' smoking on the patio overlooking Kirkwood at Kilroy's has been difficult to control.\n"People don't understand that you still can't smoke when you're out there," Prall said. "But then, if they just walk out on the other side of the railing, it's legal." \nPrall also questioned how police will enforce such gray area issues. \nPrall and Chris Karl, owner of Yogi's and City Grille, both agreed the smoking ban has impacted their businesses negatively. \n"We're losing customers because we can't have smoking," Karl said. "The smoking ban has hurt us."\nKarl said he doesn't believe businesses are openly violating the law, but he has seen issues in his restaurants where there are cigarette butts in toilets and bathrooms that reek of cigarette smoke. He believes other restaurants probably experience the same types of problems. \nNew enforcement will mean the presence of uniformed officers at Bloomington bars. Prall said this will be another big blow to her businesses.\n"Uniformed officers make people uncomfortable," Prall said. "People are doing absolutely nothing wrong, but the presence of police officers just scares people."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Pat Giese at pgiese@indiana.edu.