RALEIGH N.C. North Carolina restaurateurs are embracing the state’s new smoking ban as “the best compromise we could have hoped for” because it covers all restaurants and bars. The measure also allows for smoking on patios.
The ban was signed into law by Gov. Bev Perdue on May 19 and will take effect Jan. 2, 2010. Officials of the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association said they fully support the final version of the measure.
“This is a ban on smoking in all restaurants and bars, but it does allow for smoking outside on patios,” said Paul Stone, president and chief executive of the NCRLA. “We’re happy with the results. It is not a ban on all businesses, but realistically in North Carolina that had very little chance of passing. Really, this is the best kind of compromise we could have hoped for.”
The law exempts country clubs and nonprofit membership clubs, but all other public places must comply with the ban.
Operators who do not comply with the law will be fined $200 per infraction, and individuals will be charged $50 each.
The NCRLA initially had expressed concern over the measure, which was amended several times before it was passed. The group wanted to make sure that exemptions were limited in the bill’s final version.
Stone said that because of the ban, more operators would most likely contemplate building patios in order to satisfy their smoking clientele.
“We do think that business overall will be positive, and that more restaurateurs will build patios to accommodate smokers,” he said, “but to what extent we don’t know.”
North Carolina has been the main producer of tobacco in the United States for the last 400 years. It joins 28 other states that have implemented statewide smoking bans.
Contact Elissa Elan at [email protected].