Saratoga Given Smoking Ban Exemption; County Reverses Earlier Decision

owner Jim Barton can breathe easier today because the bowling center has been approved for a smoking ban exemption by the St. Louis County Department of Revenue.

"From our view, they are a licensed drinking establishment and their food sales are less than 25 percent of their total business revenue and, as such, they qualify for the exemption," said Martina Price, revenue department spokeswoman.

The decision comes the bowling center's bar is not enclosed and not eligible for a smoking ban exemption. Smoke from the bar floats into the bowling and pool playing areas, two areas ruled as no-smoke zones by the health department.

In an e-mail sent to Maplewood-Brentwood Patch on Jan. 12, county health department spokesman Craig LeFebvre wrote: 

"The finding of that inspection was that since the bar is not fully enclosed, the facility would not be able to comply with 605.060, Section I, which states (in part): '...provided, however, that no smoke infiltrates into areas where smoking is otherwise prohibited...'"

The health department is charged with inspecting establishments and enforcing the ban, but the revenue department is responsible for issuing waivers.

When told Saratoga Lanes had been granted an exemption by the revenue department, LeFebvre said one thing is clear.

"They make the decision, but they get full reports of what our inspectors find that we believe isn't in compliance," he said. 

Saratoga Lanes became a center of controversy on Jan. 24 after a St. Louis Post-Dispatch story revealed customers were smoking inside even though Barton's exemption application had not been approved.

In St. Louis County, exemptions have been limited to designated areas and not in the bowling area. As of Monday, 145 bars in St. Louis County have been granted smoking exemptions. Eight applications, including Tropicana Lanes in Richmond Heights, are awaiting approval while six applications have been denied.

Smoking is banned at North Oaks Bowl in Northwoods, West County Lanes in Ellisville, Brunswick Lakeside Lanes in Valley Park and AMF Strike and Spare Lanes in unincorporated St. Louis County because those centers haven't applied for an inspection and exemption.

LeFebvre said this won't be the the last time people hear about this issue.

"It's up to the County Council and county counselor's office to clarify this," he said.

Editor's note: From September 2009 to the Nov. 2, 2009 vote on Proposition N, Scott Simon worked as a consultant for the St. Louis Bowling Proprietors Association Committee Against Proposition N.