Owners say smoking ban snuffing out business

Tuesday, January 19 2010

By Christy Mullins
Herald Online (SC)

York County Council members were faced with a tough crowd Tuesday night: around 100 angry bar owners and customers who wanted nothing but the freedom to light a cigarette indoors.

Only two were given a chance to speak during a meeting that lasted around an hour. But dozens of people flooded the lobby long before the meeting began.

They include people such as Steve Lipe, whose private Rock Hill bar Ponderosa is in danger of closing after he says a countywide smoking ban enacted last May ran off more than half his customers.

Owners say smoking ban snuffing out business continues here...