The New Year finds those who dine out frequently forced to stick to that resolution, as a smoking ban goes into effect in restaurants across Erie County. As of January 1, all restaurants must be smoke free unless they have a separately ventilated room for smoking.

Erie County Executive Dennis Gorski laid out the details of the plan Monday, January 5 speaking at Sigmund's Bistro in Williamsville. Gorski said, "Second-hand smoke is a proven killer," and added, "There's no reason why innocent children and non-smokers shouldn't be able to eat and enjoy a night out without being subjected to the dangers of smoking."

The owner of Sigmund's Bistro, Sigmund Szymanski, is also president of the Western New York Restaurateurs Association, which participated in the legislative process. According to Szymanski, the Restaurateurs helped bring compromise to the law, which originally would have outlawed smoking in restaurants all together. Currently, the law excludes taverns where food makes up less than 40 percent if the total business.

According to the new law, restaurants must either be completely smoke-free or provide a room with separate ventilation for smokers. Since bars aren't counted in the law, restaurants with bars will have to provide another waiting area and an alternative path to the bathrooms for their patrons.

Some area businesses are less than enthusiastic about the law, however. Keith Morgan, General Manager of the Buffalo Brew Pub, had to spend $10,000 to separate the bar from the dining room and upgrade the ventilation system. A nonsmoker himself, he feels the law may go too far.

Morgan says of the County, "They're stepping on other people's rights," and adds, "[Nonsmokers] have the choice to come in or not." However, other than the money he has spent thus far, Morgan doesn't anticipate a major impact on his business. He says, "People are living with it."

The County sees the issue of smokers' rights differently. Says Scott Brown, Gorski's Senior Executive Assistant in Public Relations, "Smokers' rights stop at the point where they're hurting other people.

To accommodate for the change, Gorski said Erie County is willing to grant short-term waivers to businesses that need to do remodeling in order to comply with the new law. According to Brown, the waivers would last a maximum of 60 days.

The restriction is in accordance with the Clean Air Act, which also required that all work places be smoke free in 1997. The Clean Air Act was passed in late 1996.