Maa is the former president of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society, which co-sponsored the proposal, along with major medical groups such as the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association.
Maa said the ban builds off of a 2014 city law, which prohibited outdoor smoking at restaurants, but granted an exception for bars and taverns with outdoor patios after pushback from bar owners.
That pushback has carried over into this fight: more than 2,000 small business owners and residents have signed an online petition opposing the ban.
“While we respect the Board’s concern for public health, we believe this legislation is misguided in its scope, timing, and priorities — and we urge the Board to reject it,” the petition reads.
Lex Montiel, who owns and operates the San Francisco Eagle, said he’s worried about the indirect impact the ordinance would have on business.
The Eagle is a historic leather bar in SoMa, with a large covered patio — an important draw for customers, many of whom enjoy cigars and cigarettes in the space, Montiel said.
Since COVID, the bar’s economic position has been tenuous, he said, and his clientele relies on the covered patio to provide them a space to dress freely and socialize with others in the community.
“If [a customer] is smoking and we have to push them out to the street on a jockstrap, we definitely would lose that customer,” he said. “We will not be able to offer a safe space.”
Montiel said the city is “overreaching” with the ban. While the health of his clientele and his employees is important to him, he said, he doubts that his employees are exposed to dangerous levels of secondhand smoke while at work. Montiel said that he hasn’t received complaints, and he is “very, very strict” about preventing smoking and vaping inside the bar.
