Smoking will be allowed again inside some Louisville businesses. Here's what to know
It's official: Louisvillians will soon be able to smoke inside cigar bars.
Louisville Metro Council voted Thursday to create an exemption to the city's smoking ordinance. It allows patrons to smoke inside businesses that make at least 15% of their revenue from selling cigars or tobacco products.
While there are a few rare places where cigars can be smoked indoors, including Derby City Gaming Downtown, the change would expand where indoor cigar smoking is allowed.
"I think this is going to be a tremendous benefit to our community, aligned with our tourism industries, particularly around bourbonism, horse racing and others," said Councilman Anthony Piagentini, the ordinance's sponsor.
The exemption does not include cigarettes or other smoking products. The ordinance also requires a smoke-free area for the delivery of items or mail and prohibits cigar smoke from passing into other businesses that might share a wall or other space with the cigar bar.
It passed 20-6 despite facing opposition from health experts — and coming less than four years after a similar Metro Council measure failed with a 15-11 vote.
Councilman Markus Winkler voted against the ordinance both in 2021 and on Thursday.
"As somebody who likes to go to restaurants, occasionally goes to a bar and does not smoke, I enjoy being able to go to those establishments without coming home and smelling like an ashtray," he said. "I think that any loosening of that regulation, to me, opens the door to further reductions of (the smoking ban)."
Unlike cigarettes, cigar smoke is often not inhaled. However, the National Cancer Institute says there is "no safe level of tobacco use."
Councilman JP Lyninger quoted from John Hopkins Medicine: "Compared with nonsmokers, regular cigar smokers are four to 10 times more likely to die from oral cancer, esophageal cancer and laryngeal cancer."
Lyninger also voiced concerns for workers' health — a point he brought up previously at the March 18 Labor and Economic Development Committee.
"Workers do not enter into a 100% voluntary activity when they accept employment," Lyninger said. "They are doing it because they need a job. They need to feed their kids, they need to put a roof over their heads."
Council members Shameka Parrish-Wright, Paula McCraney, Ben Reno-Weber and Betsy Ruhe were the other "no" votes.
Proponents of the ordinance, meanwhile, say it will boost tourism. Louisville Tourism President and Chief Executive Officer Cleo Battle submitted a statement in support of the ordinance.
"We know from countless conversations with visitors that there is demand for a venue where they can enjoy a premium bourbon alongside a cigar," Battle wrote. "Currently, guests looking for this experience are leaving Louisville and taking their business to Southern Indiana, which puts our hospitality industry at a disadvantage."
Joshua Pickett, founder of the Louisville Cigar Company, previously told The Courier Journal the legislation would be a significant boost for his business.
Despite repeated requests for comment from The Courier Journal, Mayor Craig Greenberg's spokespeople did not respond to an inquiry on his perspective on the ordinance. Former Mayor Greg Fischer previously commended the council for rejecting the similar 2021 ordinance.
In the Republican Caucus meeting on Thursday, Piagentini said Greenberg would not veto the legislation, but he also would not sign it into law. This means the new cigar bar exemption won't go into effect until the start of the next council meeting on April 24th.
Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville lifts smoking ban inside some businesses
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