SEATTLE — The city of Seattle says it will now allow hookah lounges in the city to remain open, but only if they make a big change.
Meanwhile, lounge owners say the city’s demands are unreasonable and they feel they are being unfairly targeted.
“These past two weeks have been hell for us,” said one owner of Cloud 9 Hookah Lounge.
Seattle leaders met with many hookah lounge owners Friday to tell them how they could comply with the state’s no-smoking law passed in 2004. The lounges are being told to use steam stones, chemically soaked rocks, instead of fruit-flavored tobacco.
“I support fair and consistent enforcement of our state’s no-smoking laws,” said City Attorney Pete Holmes. “Hookah lounges cannot continue to operate illegally as smoking establishments. Converting these businesses to a steam stones vaporization model is our best path forward now to bring them into compliance with state and local law. Like every other business, they must also comply with all city laws, including tax and building codes.”
However, lounge owners said their customers don’t like the taste produced by the steam stones and itthe smoke burns their throats. They fear the change would put them out of business.
Seattle originally started zeroing in on hookah lounges following a string of violence near clubs, including the high-profile slaying of Donnie Chin. Again, lounge owners say looking at them because of nearby violence is unfair.
“They gave us a license to operate in their city, and now they’re telling us we initiate violence,” exclaimed Cloud 9’s owner. “No, there is no way the hookah lounges initiate violence.”
Many of the hookah lounges KIRO 7 spoke with Friday night said they have no intention of switching to steam stone and do not know where that leaves them.
While the city said it is in the process of working with the lounges, the establishments will still be subject to random inspections and fines, though they no longer face the imminent threat of being closed completely.
KIRO
