Supervisor Myrna Melgar has introduced a ban on smoking at outdoor bar and tavern patios in San Francisco, which would make it one of the last major cities in the Bay Area to do so, and some local venues fear the ban would kill their business.

In keeping with her 2024 reelection promise, Supervisor Myrna Melgar introduced legislation last week that would amend the city’s Health Code to ban smoking on outdoor bar and tavern patios, as the Bay Area Reporter reports. It would also remove existing exceptions that allow smoking in certain indoor or semi-enclosed bar spaces, including some hotel rooms, to align with California law.

Melgar said she was still gauging support with the Board of Supervisors but expressed confidence in finding a balance between public health concerns and potential economic impacts on businesses.

“We tend to be individualistic about health. It is about my choices that I control,” said Melgar, via the BAR. “But these things are about everybody else, especially with smoking. Secondhand smoke impacts the people around you, your children, and the workers serving you. This is a really important workers’ rights issue.”

San Francisco is reportedly the last major Bay Area city without such a restriction, following similar bans in San Jose, Oakland, and across Sonoma and Contra Costa counties, with more than 100 California cities having adopted comparable rules, according to Mission Local.

The proposal, first introduced on April 7, is expected to be referred to the Land Use and Transportation Committee, which Melgar chairs, with the earliest possible hearing set for May 11. If it advances, it would reportedly require approval from five supervisors before reaching Mayor Daniel Lurie for final consideration.

The BAR reports that District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who represents South of Market and Mission Bay — areas with multiple bars that currently allow smoking on outdoor patios — said he is undecided on Melgar’s ordinance and plans to consult local business owners before taking a position.

Dorsey, who previously helped lead a 2019 campaign opposing a Juul-backed ballot measure to overturn San Francisco’s restrictions on e-cigarette sales, said he supports reducing tobacco harms but has concerns about unintended consequences. He pointed to the possibility that a patio smoking ban could shift smoking activity onto sidewalks, potentially affecting nearby businesses and residential buildings, per BAR.

Melgar responded that sidewalk smoking already occurs in the city and should not deter the Board of Supervisors from advancing the proposal.

LGBTQ Minus Tobacco, which previously helped advance a similar ban in Oakland, conducted a San Francisco study in partnership with UCSF researchers and reported that six of the nine bar patios tested showed unhealthy air quality levels.

Brian Davis, the group’s former project director and current volunteer, told the BAR that San Francisco has lagged behind other jurisdictions in protecting bar workers and patrons from secondhand smoke exposure. He said removing existing exemptions in the city’s Health Code would simplify enforcement and eliminate ambiguity around patio structures, such as whether fabric canopies qualify as “ceilings,” which can affect whether smoking is permitted.

Davis also pointed to broader public health and access concerns, saying people with respiratory conditions are often unable to safely spend time in smoking-permitted spaces.

Joseph Andrew Hayden, another volunteer with the group, told Mission Local that smoking remains common in LGBTQ nightlife venues such as the Lone Star and the Eagle, as well as events like Bearisson and Folsom Street Fair. He rejected the idea that smoking is inherent to gay culture and said some community members believe smoke-free environments would make quitting easier.

“I know that I would be much more likely and much more comfortable if I could go out to these places and actually inhale,” he said.

As the BAR reports, some LGBTQ community members have voiced opposition, including a local group of pipe and cigar-smoking leathermen, who called the policy “ridiculous.”

Four Castro neighborhood bars have popular smoking patios as well: Toad Hall, The Pilsner Inn, The Mix, and The Lookout.

Patrons at venues such as the Blarney Stone in the Richmond District said they would likely visit less often if smoking were no longer allowed on patios, arguing that they prefer the privacy of enclosed outdoor areas over smoking on sidewalks, according to Mission Local.

On the other hand, venues such as Casements bar and restaurant in the Mission already prohibit smoking on its outdoor patio, a policy that bar manager Mo Huynh said has been beneficial for business.

Image: Eagle Tavern