San Francisco is rolling out a sweeping outdoor smoking ban that would snuff out cigarettes on bar patios and parklets across the city.
The move has ignited outrage among local business owners, who argue the draconian measure is just the latest example of government overreach putting neighborhood bars at risk.
The controversial ordinance, being crafted by Supervisor Myrna Melgar and Dr. John Maa of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society, would require bars and taverns to follow the same smoke-free outdoor regulations already imposed on restaurants under state and local law, KTVU reported.
If passed, customers would no longer be allowed to smoke while enjoying drinks at outdoor bar spaces across the notoriously left-leaning city.
Maa, a surgeon backing the proposal, insisted the crackdown is necessary to protect patrons, workers, and pedestrians from secondhand smoke.
“This is to protect the patrons of these establishments and also importantly, the employees and anyone who might be exposed to secondhand smoke,” Maa told the outlet.
He argued San Francisco should put public health ahead of business profits.
But furious bar owners have slammed the proposal as an example of heavy-handed government meddling.
Neil Holbrook, co-owner of O’Reilly’s Pub in Haight-Ashbury, said his parklet was intentionally created so customers could smoke while having a beer.
“One of the reasons we have a parklet is so people can come out and have a cigarette with their beer,” Holbrook said.
Other critics have rallied around an online petition that lists dozens of bars, worried that the ordinance could deal a blow to already struggling businesses and gut their revenue.
Skeptics also questioned how the law would even be enforced, noting smokers may simply move a few feet down the sidewalk — potentially leaving bar owners stuck policing public spaces beyond their doors.
Melgar’s office has tried to ease concerns by claiming the ordinance is not meant to be punitive, and that officials plan outreach efforts and will offer free signage to encourage compliance.
Yet for many locals, the proposal feels like just another aggressive nanny-state crackdown in a city already infamous for its maze of regulations.
San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors will vote next month. If approved, the smoking ban would take effect early next year.