More than 900 communities across the country have implemented bans in recent years. Last year, Duluth and Moose Lake eliminated smoking in restaurants, while officials in Hutchinson, Rochester and Willmar are considering doing so. Voters repealed a ban in Little Falls in January by just 18 votes. In New Prague last August, supporters, opponents and city officials reached a stalemate over implementing an anti-smoking ordinance that resulted in no action being taken. I think we have better guest counts because we are non-smoking.
People are free to sit anywhere in the restaurant.
Some restaurant managers say a ban will be bad for business. If we do that, that's going to hurt our sales for alcohol. Coalition statistics show revenue at Dane County, Wis., restaurants grew 24 percent from 1992 to 1997, while the other restaurants in the state had 19 percent increases in their revenues for the same period. The difference was that 90 percent of the communities in Dane County enacted smoke-free restaurant ordinances in 1994. He has since applied for a variance from the ordinance, which can be granted if owners can show they had a 15 percent reduction in sales.