Stub it out or go outside New Year’s Day

ISLE OF PALMS—A workplace smoking ban goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, but police officers don’t plan on becoming a cigarette Gestapo.

They have enough to worry about, and for some Isle of Palms police officers that includes finding their own place to smoke. Isle of Palms police and other city employees used to light up just outside the City Hall doors and near garage bays like the one at the Isle of Palms 41st Avenue fire station. Lt. Raymond Wright said smokers would most likely have to go to the edge of city properties once the new ordinance goes into effect.

That’s because the city’s ordinance approved in September requires that smokers light up a reasonable distance from buildings so that smoke doesn’t filter through doorways and windows.

Smoking establishments will ban smoking indoors after the ball drops for New Year’s. Wright said police aren’t planning to enter establishments just to make sure no one is smoking, but they may respond to complaints. As with any new ordinance, police will give out warnings and make sure people are aware of the change first, Wright said.

City Council approved the ban in September, falling in line with other communities east of the Cooper, such as Mount Pleasant and Sullivan’s Island where similar bans are already in place. According to Isle of Palms law, smoking will be illegal in enclosed workplaces.

People who violate the ordinance could be fined $50, and business owners or managers who fail to comply could be fined $100 for the first offense.

Bobby Simons, co-owner of Acme Cantina, looks upon the change with some bitterness. The Cantina’s only porch is enclosed during winter months, which means all smokers will have to stand in the street or in the parking lot. Simons decided to skip a big New Year’s Eve celebration.

“We don’t want a big hassle,” Simons said. It would have gone something like “Happy New Year, now get out,” he said.

Simons hoped to remodel or renovate the bar, but couldn’t afford the cost and Acme Cantina wasn’t eligible for a loan.

When the time comes, Windjammer bartender Todd Campbell said, they will take up the ashtrays, but the change shouldn’t affect the New Year’s celebration. Smokers will simply go out on the back deck or walk down along the beach. Budiroes Music Bar & Grill, where owner Ronnie Johnson performs on his acoustic guitar, plans to abide by the law but has no space to offer smokers. They will simply be told to go outside when the time comes. That might be the middle of the parking lot.

Reach Jessica Johnson at 937-5921 or jjohnson@postandcourier.com.