Voluntary compliance and a complaint driven system are the guidelines for the Illinois smoking ban which will go into effect Jan. 1.

Those key concepts were mentioned in interviews by The Business Ledger with officials from two county health departments and a local police chief. These types of people are those whom the state has designated to handle the details.

The most urgent question among business owners is what might happen on New Year’s Eve in the early morning hours after the clock strikes 12 midnight and the smoking ban officially takes effect.

Comments by the head of the Elmhurst police department are indicative of how officers will react on that particular morning and generally as the days go by in 2008.

“New Years Eve is one of our busiest times of the year when we deal with numerous public safety issues,” said Elmhurst Chief Steven Neubauer. “Our officers will not have time to respond on New Year’s Eve to a complaint about a person smoking in a restaurant or a bar.”

Beyond that day, Neubauer said he would be looking for voluntary compliance. If that does not happen, then police officers will go to the next level, which is enforcement. If there is a problem with a particular business, then police officers will talk to the owner at that location. People can call 911 to make a complaint about people smoking, according to Neubauer.

If officers catch people smoking in a public place of business then they have the discretion to talk to them or give them a ticket, according to Neubauer.

Eventually, he said people will get used to the idea of not smoking in prohibited places just as most of them wear their seatbelts when they are driving their cars and trucks.

As 2008 continues, a health department official in DuPage County said staff members will not be making inspections unless they receive a complaint from citizens.

“We are not a law enforcement agency. We provide education about health issues,” said David Hass, public information officer for the DuPage County Health Department.

Environmental Health Services at the DuPage County Health Department (630-682-7400) will handle calls from businesses and restaurants.

“A series of informational letters and an on-site visit will be used as necessary,” Hass indicated.

Information can also be obtained at www.smokefreedupage.org, www.smoke-freeil.gov and www.smokefreeillinois.org.

The situation is similar in Kane County. Tom Schlueter, public information officer for that county’s health department, said the agency does not have the staff to monitor every business, nor does the police department.

“I am not saying that there won’t be spot inspections. There could be,” he said. “The department will not be out with a strike force after midnight on Dec. 31. The department will follow up on complaints as soon as possible.”

People who have complaints or who want more information should call 630-208-3801. They can also call the Illinois Department of Public Health in Springfield at 217-782-4977.

Both DuPage and Kane County health departments held informational meetings for business owners and the general public in December to provide as much information as possible and to answer questions from people who attended.

Mentioned at the meetings were guidelines that owners of businesses need to follow for the Illinois smoking ban, which was passed by the state legislature earlier this year, including aspects such as:

• No smoking signs at least three inches by five inches;
• No ashtrays in the building;
• People are not allowed to smoke outside within 15 feet of a building entrance, which includes open windows, any doorways or a ventilation intake.

Additional information from the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association web site (www.ilba.net)) noted that an entire section of the Illinois law designates the type of walls and distance requirements for outdoor smoking areas. Licensees will need to check with local liquor ordinances to ensure that statement requirements comply when allowing smoking in beer gardens.

In addition to beer gardens, the only exceptions that are permitted in public are existing retail tobacco stores with 80 percent of revenue from tobacco sales, certain private and semi-private rooms in nursing homes and specified smoking rooms in hotels where all rules are met. Private residences are not included in the ban.

Minimum fines for a proprietor are $250 for the first offense, $500 for the second and $2,500 for the third offense in a 12-month period. Individuals can be fined from $100 to $250 for each instance.

Daniel Clausner, executive director of the ILBA, said many of the association members will attempt to accommodate patrons who smoke by construction or modifying patios and beer gardens.

“Unfortunately many ILBA members will not be able to add or building smoking areas due to the constraints of their properties,” he said.

A former ILBA president said the Illinois smoking ban will put a lot of bars out of business and put people out of work.

Sean Gorman, owner of Tavern On The Fox in Aurora, said people should be able to vote with their wallet and go to bars where there is smoking, instead of having a state law banning smoking. People who don’t want to be around smokers would see a decal on the door of the bar saying there is smoking, he suggested, and then could decide to go elsewhere.

“People are trying to bring back another type of prohibition without doing it directly,” he said. “I am a non-smoker. Why don’t they ban cigarettes? They make too much money from cigarette taxes. They are hypocrites.”