GARNER – A bar owner in Garner must pay a fine after patrons at the establishment were allegedly allowed to smoke.
According to state documents, James Brunsen, owner of Matt’s Place at 235 State Street in Garner, was issued a complaint for a violation of the Smoke Free Air Act.
It was alleged that at Matt’s Place, on or about July 25, 2017 and August 8, 2017, an agent or employee of Matt’s Place, violated the Smoke Free Air Act by:
Permitting patrons to smoke in an outdoor seating area of restaurant; Placing and/or allowing the use of ashtrays on the establishment’s outdoor seating area; and failing to correct or remedy the open violations of the Smokefree Air Act occurring on the licensed premises.
In a settlement reached after the violations occurred and a complaint lodged, Brunsen remitted to the Iowa Deparatment Of Commerce Alcoholic Beverages Division a civil penalty of five hundred dollars ($500.00).
Questions to Matt’s Bar about the incident went unanswered.
They have a smoking area out back where food is not served but once chairs show up out there then it becomes “outdoor seating” therefore they get busted. Chances are, they remove the chairs and they’re fine.
smoking is bad, big deal, so is eating fast food, doing meth, drinking and unprotected sex————–anyone want a beer?
only permitted where the government collects dollars, so very sad
As long as people are allowed to smoke at the casino but nowhere else, this law is a total crock.
If a business owner wants to allow smoking, they should be able to. And I, as a non-smoker, can then choose where I want to spend my money. We don’t need big brother government for that.
I think that’s a wise assessment.
Whenever the word smoking, (cigarettes) comes up, there are two things that are certain, it’s offensive, and the end result is litter.
Wrong again. Not if they are smoking outside, using the ashtrays in the designated area, away from you and your table. Quit your bitchin’ It’s really no skin off your snout.
The cost of medical treatment related to tobacco use is passed along to everyone else in the insurance pool, so we pay a price for the poor decisions you make.
I’ve got news for ya..everything we eat, everything we drink, and the air we breathe is making us sick. But for some people, it feels so good to tell others what to do and what not to do…
Fact: The bar owner payed the fine. Either he did not want to appeal or he had no case. Next time let them smoke but insist that the fools don’t exhale.
Maybe I missed it, but, I thought they could have designated smoking areas outdoors where they were allowed to smoke. Did that change? Because if it did someone forgot to tell all the bars in town.
LVS. The law is very clear and unambiguous. Smoking is prohibited in outdoor areas where seating is provided and food is served. After looking up the code I now understand how some establishments very cleverly get around the law.
https://abd.iowa.gov/tobacco/smokefree-air-act
Even if a smoking area is established? Doesn’t seem right or fair. I don’t like the smell of smoke but recognize these people have rights too as long as they are in a recognized area. They pay taxes on these things. I know they are a health hazard (that is why I quit) but it is a personal choice.
I am a reformed smoker, and as such I am very much against smoking. However, if they are outside I don’t have a problem with it.
Exactly.
I think it sucks, allow people to smoke, guess if you don’t like it then leave, go to the casino
The law is the law.
You need a moving violation fine every time you don’t come to a COMPLETE STOP at a stop sign. That way, you will better understand what “the law is the law” means, and don’t whine, it’s for your own good.
Wow. What a stupid crock of shit. If they are outside…big F***ing deal. I don’t smoke, but I do not like the way smokers are pushed around and businesses are squeezed by control-freaks making rules. Matt’s is a great place to eat and relax with friends and it’s stupid and counterproductive to do this to a local business. I don’t care what the law says–this ain’t right.
Smokers being pushed around?!?! They’re some of the most inconsiderate butt holes on the planet. Don’t bring no your cancer sticks to public places AND the world isn’t your private ashtray…I wish we would enforce litter laws and fine all the smokers who flick their butts out of car windows.
Especially around the bus depot up town, it’s pathetic.
Nothing like enjoying good food mixed with the aroma of a stinking cigarette.
Doesn’t sound like the smokers were inconsiderate..they were outside the building, away from the non-smoking patrons. As for the littering accusation, they were not littering, they were provided ash trays, and I am assuming they were using them. I do not like cig butts thrown out car windows either…nobody does, but that’s not what this is about. And it has nothing to do with a mess outside a bus depot, it’s mostly about a few people that are eager for something to bitch about and the law has provided them an opportunity to climb on their anti-smoking pulpit. And no, I do not smoke.