Beech Grove rejects smoking ban, welcomes Indy smokers

Beech Grove will keep its smoke-filled bars for as long as possible. The City Council voted 5-2 Monday night against a proposed smoking ban identical to those passed in Indianapolis and Lawrence. The council approved the ban on first reading July 23, said Mayor Dennis Buckley, but four bar owners speaking against the ban convinced the council Monday that a ban would hurt their business. Buckley supported the ban, and at one time, he said, so did most of Beech Grove’s bar owners. Then smokers started congregating in the city.

“At the time Indianapolis imposed it, three bar owners here were ready to do the ban also,” Buckley said Tuesday. “But after the city of Indianapolis imposed the ban, these bars got busy. The bar owners had a change of heart and decided their financial worth was of much greater importance than the health of patrons.” Beech Grove’s ban would have affected five bars and four fraternal clubs, he said. A statewide law already bans smoking in most other types of businesses.

“I’m going to say about 80 percent of people in Beech Grove probably desired to have the ban in place,” said Buckley, who estimated he had heard Tuesday from about 200 people disappointed by the council’s action. “I would have voted for it if I was on the council. Bar owners have already made arrangements for outside areas for smokers.” One local bar owner, however, said smoking bans deprive business owners of their rightful freedoms.

“A lot of our customers who don’t smoke still want this to be a place where people have a choice,” said Jan Oates, 54, Beech Grove. She co-owns Harvey’s Tavern in the 600 block of Main Street. The mayor, Oates said, should be doing everything possible to sustain businesses rather than supporting proposals that, in her opinion, would hurt them.

“He’s just going to be the mayor of Amtrak and the Speedway gas station if he’s not careful,” she said, “because we won’t have any other businesses left.” Her bar has operated since 1949, when her business partner’s parents opened it, she said. The other four bars in Beech Grove are The Grove Tavern, Lucky’s Pub, O’Gara’s Pub and the Silver Bullet.