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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0013.316 2002-2004 ~la~~ i Richard Cannady ~ From: Richard Cannady [rcannady@hawaii.rr.com] Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2004 12:04 PM To: 'akonishi@interpac.net' RECEi"vN1 Subject: New smoking laws Slme_ By___._._~___... pot. Z?3~~.y._~..~.~n 1/21/04 ~~ounty 6oundj . Thank you for taking the time to read this. My name is Richard Cannady I am the new owner of Durty Jake's Cafe and Bar in Kailua-Kona. I have reviewed the new regulations and wanted to discuss them with you. After discussing the parameters of the new laws with your legal representative I think there are many items in it that should be open for further review and possibly change. There are no two restaurants or restauranUbar combinations that are exactly alike and that is great for the consumer because it give them a choice. Some restaurants open for dinner only, others open for breakfast, lunch and dinner then close. There are several of us that serve food from breakfast through dinner and then convert into nightclubs from 9:30pm until 2:OOam. There are restauranUbars that are completely indoors and some that are almost all open air. Our restauranU bar is almost entirely open air. Durty Jake's is a Restaurant. Bar and Nightclub. We are the # 1 nightclub in Kona offering live entertainment 5-6 nights a week with dinner and after dinner shows almost every night. The laws you have approved that do not allow smoking even after food is no longer served create an unfair playing field. My experience tells me that 75% of the people who frequent our restaurant after dinner smoke, the remaining 25% who don't do not mind because we are an open air facility that has the advantage of ocean breeze and fan systems that keep the air clear. How can a business like ours compete with a bar or nightclub if it is allowed to have smoking when we provide the same agenda without. Furthermore your phasing in process of allowing smoking in the attached bar until August 31st literally means there will more oeoole coming inside to smoke and no-one allowed to smoke outside in the open air even though there is no food served after 9:45pm. The policy of food sales over 1/3 putting the law into effect will also create many problems. Who will audit this? you can rest assured that businesses are going to stretch the truth so they too will have an unfair advantage. Who is going to audit this and at what expense. Do our police departments have time and money to enforce this?, I know for a fact that they do not want to. It is not that I am for or against smoking. Matter of fact I believe that smoking should never be allowed indoors and I am a smoker. However regulating what takes place in the open air is overbearing. There are restaurants in Kailua-Kona that do not allow smoking and have made that choice of their own free will (I think you will find they are mostly indoors) so there are plenty of choices for the non-smoker. whatever happened to choice? Non smokers have the choice of picking restaurants that cater to their wishes. What ever happened to a business having the freedom to choose it's customer base. If you truly believe that banning smoking will make restaurant sales increase you are sadly mistaken and extremely misinformed. I am not trying to tell you what to do, I am just asking for your consideration in formulating an ordinance that puts all bars, restaurants and nightclubs or like businesses on the same playing field. I believe that smoking outdoors should be allowed in designated areas, smoking should not be allowed indoors and that all like business should have a level playing field. There is also a cost burden that you may not realize that you are imposing on restaurants and restaurant bar combinations. if customers have nowhere to smoke on premises then they will leave their tables or the bar to smoke putting a ploicing burden on the establishment to make sure they return to pay their bill. None of us can afford this confusion. I know the counsil has concerns about the effects that any new law has on business. I don't know if you are aware that banks and other lending institutions do not lend money to owners of restaurants and bars because of their high failure rate. This law puts an unfair burden on business owners that have a history of struggle on this Island and gives unfair advantages to businesses that are not even as versatile to the community in the fact that they only sell alcohol. It is a givin that some form of anti-smoking ordinance is going to be instituted long term, I am asking for you to reflect on your decision on this current ordinance and refine it so that it makes sense for all types of bars,restaurants and nightclubs and is fair for everyone. Could you please send a current copy without the bracketed items to everyone concerned, I had to have my lawyer read it and he's not quite sure of the ordinance. we were never givin a copy of the ordinance so most bar owners probably never seen it. I pulled mine of the Internet, it is ordinance #03 112 signed by Mayor Harry Kim on 7/29/03. Why not put this ordinance to a public vote and see how the public truly feels. ~m,TM ~ I • 31~ Ref. To: 1 Ref. Date 'J~ P.S. I am including a set of pictures of Durty Jake's so you can percieve what I mean when I say open air. Thank you, Richard M. 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