2016-03-08 P & Z Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Sahara Nights owner Spencer Seljeskog said Wednesday that he is working with a contractor to install an air circulation system in the basement of his hookah lounge. "We don't want to make our neighbors upset so we're doing everything we can to fix the problem," he said. He said he expects a system to be in place by next week. Classified Hookah owners did not return messages left Wednesday. Bazac said he can't get rid of the hookah businesses without giving them a chance to address the issue. "if they cannot fix it, they're going to have to close the place," he said. "It is a violation of the lease. It constitutes a nuisance." Hookah lounges are relatively new to Rapid City, with the first one opening in 2008. No other city in South Dakota has one. The two new lounges in the Buell Building at the corner of St. Joseph and Seventh streets are opening at a time when the businesses are under increased scrutiny from law enforcement. The statewide smoking ban exempts retail tobacco stores such as hookah lounges from the smoking ban as long as they generate 65 percent of income from tobacco sales and do not allow on -premise alcohol consumption. Bazac said city officials should have made sure there was a proper ventilation system before allowing the businesses to operate. "it seems like somebody was sleeping and not doing their job," he said. But city officials don't review business uses unless a permit is required, such as for remodeling or liquor sales. city building official Brad Solon said that in response to complaints from tenants, a building inspector visited the site this week and left information for the lounge owners to contact the city to see if any permits are required. But there is nothing the city can do to stop the lounges from allowing hookah smoking, Solon said. Because hookah lounges are a legal retail use, they are allowed in the central business district under zoning ordinances, he said "I don't see anything that expressly prohibits what they're doing," Solon said. He said the landlord and tenants will have to work the problem out themselves and noted that other businesses cause smells, too. "A bakery is going to make a smell," he said. "If you have a Hardee's, it's going to smell like bacon and roast beef sandwiches." Tenants say it is not just the smell; it's that smoke is a health hazard.