As a Tempe bar owner, Jeff Drechsel fully supported a statewide smoking ban that Arizona voters passed in November.
Drechsel's Zuma Grill was subject to a city smoking ban, so he was eager to see consistent rules statewide.
But a new interpretation of the law, announced this month, will hurt some bars, including his own Mill Avenue bar, he said.
The Arizona Department of Health announced that a 20-foot smoke-free buffer will be required around all doors when the Smoke Free Arizona act takes effect May 1.
"I was all for a smoking ban," he said. "But not as strict as they came down with it."
Voters approved the initiative 55 percent to 45 percent in November. It bans smoking inside nearly all public buildings, including bars, restaurants and workplaces.
But the act leaves a few details to the discretion of the state health department, such as establishing a smoke-free buffer around building entrances.
The decision to set the buffer at 20 feet came after significant public input, said Michael Murphy, the health department's communications director.
Officials sought input at three public meetings, one each in Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, and received more than 300 comments, he said.
"I think public health advocates probably wanted it to be larger and businesses smaller, so it seems to be a good compromise," Murphy said.
But for Drechsel, 20 feet is far too much, he said.
His business is "landlocked," he added.
Twenty feet from the front entrance is almost in the street, far from his existing front patio where customers currently smoke. In the back, another building sits within the 20-foot buffer, he said.
"There's got to be a few businesses up and down the street that are landlocked," Drechsel said, referring to Mill Avenue. "There's no way for us to remodel. They don't give us any budget or way to remodel."
Up the street at RA Sushi Bar, bartender Will Godsil said he's looking forward to the ban.
"I'm excited," he said. "I go home smelling like smoke every shift I work on the patio."
The way the restaurant is arranged, smokers will still be able to smoke on the patio but will have to stay away from the bar top, he said.
Callie McLaughlin, an interdisciplinary studies senior, said the 20-foot buffer is too harsh.
"I think it's going to hurt businesses," she said.
The rule could also make bars less appealing, said Trisha O'Rourke, a sociology senior.
"It's bad for the social atmosphere," she said.
Reach the reporter at: jonathan.cooper@asu.edu.
