Roger Sachs, co-owner of Steiner's, A Nevada Style Pub, discusses how he might modify his bar to accommodate both smoking and nonsmoking customers. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

Eighty businesses affected by the state's new smoking ban have asked about modifying their interiors so customers may eat, drink, gamble and smoke under one roof without receiving a citation and a $100 civil penalty for disobeying Nevada law, Health District officials say.

"Our plan has always been to try and make it work,'' said Roger Sachs, co-owner and operations manager of Steiner's, A Nevada Style Pub, which went smoke-free after the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act was enacted. "At the end of the day, it's all about dollars and cents.''

Since going smoke free, Sachs has noticed a drop-off in customers, as well as a 15 percent to 20 percent decline in bar sales. Should sales continue to drop, Sachs says, Steiner's will have to entertain other options to comply with the law and keep his customers who smoke happy.

Bars and taverns essentially have two choices under the law: close their kitchens, which some have done, or build a wall that separates the bar from the kitchen and restaurant.

"I have the diagram in my back pocket; I have not presented it to the Health District yet. I've given myself 60 to 90 days to see if things will turn around,'' Sachs said about the idea of putting in a wall at Steiner's to create separate nonsmoking and smoking rooms. "I am hoping that it wouldn't reach that point. Our bar is like our showpiece. It stands out. To close that off from our customers would, in my opinion, change the dynamic of Steiner's. It just wouldn't be the same.''

John McDonnell, owner of Lucky's Tavern along Dean Martin Drive, closed his kitchen after voters passed Question 5. But he did look into separating his bar and restaurant.

"My business was too small for a wall,'' he said. "There are other options. I could build an outdoor patio area if I want to open my kitchen again. I went down to the Health District, and it appears it would cost about $1,500 to submit the plans.''

Another avenue businesses could take is to have smoking hours and nonsmoking hours.

Paul Klouse, plan review supervisor for the Southern Nevada Health District, said that approach would allow businesses to operate both a smoking bar and restaurant, just not at the same time.

"This would be like a business being a smoking bar or nightclub at night and a nonsmoking restaurant during the day,'' he said. "This is possible. It would require the business applying for two separate health permits: one that categorizes it as a bar or nightclub and the other would categorize it as a restaurant.''

To qualify under that operational plan, when a business transitions from the smoking to nonsmoking operation, all of the air must be vented, Klouse said. Customers also must be made aware of the business' hours of operation, both as nonsmoking and smoking.

Currently, Mulligan's Landing along Rancho Drive is keeping its kitchen and restaurant open during the day and closing it to its smoking customers at night or during the swing shift.

Many businesses have presented "pretty good'' ideas, Klouse said.

"They are calling in, and we are setting up what we refer to as advisory plan review sessions,'' he said. "Most of what we're looking at is the situation where businesses have the ability to partition off an area in between the bar and restaurant so that there is no common entry or common area between the restaurant ... and a bar or saloon. The way we've interpreted the law is that smoke may not infiltrate into a nonsmoking area.''

Where some businesses might be challenged is keeping restrooms and the area surrounding restrooms, such as walkways and corridors, smoke free.

Under Question 5, customers cannot be exposed to smoke while going to a bathroom, Klouse said. To comply, businesses might need to have separate bathrooms for both the restaurant and the bar.

That could prove costly.

Sachs said he spoke with Klouse during a recent Health District workshop about Question 5 to get some assurances that if businesses go ahead and spend thousands of dollars in renovations, they wouldn't regret it down the road.

"I don't want to waste money on construction costs if a year from now the law changes,'' he said.

Question 5 prohibits smoking in nearly all public places in the state, including grocery stores, restaurants and bars that serve food. Exempt are casino floors, brothels and smoke parlors.

Under the law, owners of businesses can be cited for failing to post no-smoking signs and failing to remove ashtrays and other smoking paraphernalia.

The state-mandated fine is $100. The Health District also is considering imposing significantly higher administrative fees on violators.

Most businesses aren't complying with the ban, Health District officials said last week.

John Callen, the Health District's senior environmental health specialist, said although the agency's planning department is meeting with area businesses daily on compliance issues, his staff has yet to go to a site where interior changes have started.

"First they would have to go through the city building or fire departments for permits,'' Callen said. "It takes time for them to review those plans. Some have started that process but are not, physically, redesigning anything yet.''

Paul Wilkins, director of the Department of Building and Safety for the city of Las Vegas, said he hasn't heard of any bars or taverns bringing in design plans to change the interior of their establishments.

However, he did say installation of a wall to separate two areas could "mess up'' exiting, depending on how many people can occupy a certain space.

"In case of a fire, they would be required to have adequate exiting,'' he said. "It's not the end of the world though.''

Businesses can operate a nonsmoking restaurant and a smoking bar that doesn't serve food under one roof if the two areas:

• Are separated by doors, windows or walls that form a floor-to-ceiling barrier.

• Have windows between the smoking and nonsmoking areas that are closed at all times, and doors that remain closed when not in use.

• Have separate entrances.

• And have separated air-handling systems.

To operate as both a smoking and nonsmoking establishment, but during different hours, businesses would be required to detail to the Health District the amount of time it would take to vent the business during the transition into nonsmoking.