Another Ban Failed: WV Harrison County

By Jonathan On Jul 5, 2017

Harrison County Update

Smoking ban suspended
Jan 21, 2009
Julia Pizzonia?
Well good news for bars owners and lottery parlors because the Harrison County Smoking Ban is suspended.
At Wednesday morning’s Board of Health meeting, board members suspended the Clean Indoor Air Act until June of 2010, and that made a lot of people happy and a few others mad.
They made this decision after business owners complained they were losing business to those who weren’t complying.
Wednesday they were just supposed to talk about the ban but instead voted 4 to 1 to suspend it.
They also wanted to wait until the summer months so those smokers get adjusted to smoking outside.
Right now as long as 80 percent of seating is non-smoking, facilities are allowed to have smoking in their buildings.

Proposed “Smoke-Free” Ban in Harrison County Tabled Indefinitely

6/12/2006

Story by Elizabeth Schubert

Earlier this year, the Harrison-Clarksburg Board of Health considered a “smoke-free” ban. But what’s happened to it?

In February, the Harrison-Clarksburg Board of Health made a suggestion: to ban smoking in all public buildings. It didn’t take long to get a reaction.

The next month, a group of business owners showed up at the board’s meeting to offer their opinions. They were concerned they’d lose business if their customers couldn’t smoke.

Some have already spent money to comply with the current regulations. Mike Audia, owner of Audia’s Country Kitchen, spent $1,000.00 to add a smoking section. The section meets current regulations; an enclosed room with separate ventilation. Audia says it’s helped him.

“Without it, we lost business,” says Audia. “With it, business has increased about 15 percent.”

And like other downtown restaurant and bar owners, he’s worried about going smoke free.

“If they take it away, we lost our 15 percent of sales and also the cost of construction.”

So, what did the health board decide? According to chair Mary Ann Iquinto, most members decided to table the issue for a similar reason.

“The new regulations were put in just a few years ago,” Iquinto says. “And many bars and businesses spent money to comply. Changing it, just wouldn’t be fair.”

The ban is tabled indefinitely, at least until someone brings it up again.