Smoking indoors? Cigar lounge bill hits Fort Wayne City Council

[JohnS]

Smoking indoors? Cigar lounge bill hits Fort Wayne City Council

Smoking indoors? Cigar lounge bill hits Fort Wayne City Council

 by: Ethan Dahlen - Posted: Dec 2, 2025 

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — If you’re above the age of about 30, you probably remember smoke filled businesses before the state banned smoking in most enclosed places.

While it’s unlikely to return to public places en masse, Fort Wayne City Council unanimously voted 9-0 to preliminarily pass a city code that could allow some businesses to permit smoking cigars indoors again.

This doesn’t mean anything is set in stone just yet; the council will hear the code out before deciding what’s best for the city.

“We want the public to know in no way are we amending or changing the existing smoking ordinance; we are creating a pathway for our cigar lounges,” said Michelle Chambers, city councilwoman at large.

You might be thinking, “Isn’t Riegels already like this?” and you’d be right.

The historic downtown store is a retail tobacco store, and thus slides under the prohibition of smoking laid out in the city code, or a lounge that was grandfathered into city code.

Chambers notes that other such places are already operating as a lounge, like Rudy’s Cigar Shop and Copper Canyon Tobacconist.

“It creates an environment for more competition,” Chambers said.

The move council is discussing will impact new cigar lounges, not retail tobacco stores, and according to Chambers, let them “function in compliance with state law.”

Council preliminarily approved the bill on Tuesday night with a 9-0 vote.

Provided it receives final passage and an okay from the mayor, business owners like Dawn Moore will be able to serve alcohol and food in a building where people can smoke cigars.

“The business that I operate is Pop’s Cigar Lounge, and my goal, of course, is to open a brick and mortar here in Fort Wayne that allows just a niche in connective community that enjoys the trend of cigar smoking,” Moore said. “You know, sip your bourbon with your favorite cigar.”

That’s an important distinction, because right now Fort Wayne City Code specifies that businesses exempt from the indoor smoking laws are “not licensed for the consumption of meals or alcoholic beverages on the premises, or operated in conjunction with another business that is licensed for the on-premises consumption of meals or alcoholic beverages.”

But the change isn’t just a handout to any restaurant or bar looking to get in on cigar smoking. Businesses looking to be exempt under the title of cigar lounge must meet a different standard.

In Chambers’ words, this is a “narrow” exemption that “does not encourage smoking.”

The bill on council’s desk says in addition to limiting the smoking to cigars, says the lounge can’t operate as a “Restaurant where food and beverage sales equals or exceed sixty percent (60%) of the business annual gross income.”

In addition, cigar lounge owners would have to hold a beer, liquor, or wine retailer’s permit and only allow customers inside who are 21 or older.

“This is not an opportunity or a pathway for restaurants to flip what they’re doing and open cigar lounges,” Chambers said. “In no way are we creating an environment for restaurants to change… actually, our numbers are more stringent than the states.”

On top of that, after a cigar lounge is open for a year, the city will check in with the lounge the following year to see whether at least 20% of the lounge’s annual gross income was from the sale of cigars and the rental of on-site humidors.

These changes are allowed by state code. Chambers has been working on it for two years alongside councilwoman Rohli Booker and believes it will open up opportunities for what people already want to be doing.

“As a growing city, I think it’s important to look at different business models,” Booker said. “We want to look at supporting this specialized business model.”

“We wanted to make sure that as a city we were in compliance with state law as it is written, so that it could be amended and incorporated into our local law,” Chambers said, noting that other cities in the state, like Indianapolis and Zionsville, have done the same.

And, importantly to business owners, it could be an economic boost to southeast Fort Wayne.

“I just think it’s so important for the southeast side in terms of boosting economics in that area and just having an opportunity for like-minded people to come together,” Moore said.

Moore said there has been some frustration while trying to get her business off the ground due to the current smoking ordinance and a lack of exemptions. She thanked Mayor Sharon Tucker, Councilwomen Booker and Chambers (who she says is also her sorority sister) for pushing the change forward.

“They come from the southeast side, along with Sharon Tucker, so they understand the nuances that have to be done correctly so it doesn’t just benefit me, but all small business owners,” Moore said.

WANE 15 reached out to Mayor Tucker’s office, who said she wasn’t a supporter of the bill, but she wouldn’t stand in city council’s way if they approved it. 

Small Concerns

Although the preliminary passage happened in a unanimous manner, the bill did receive a number of questions from council members.

At large councilman, Tom Freistroffer asked for clarification on the difference between retail cigar stores and lounges.

“To go into a retail cigar store, you only have to be 18 years old, so it’s a difference,” Booker replied, continuing to explain the differences detailed above.

Freistroffer also raised concerns about a cigar lounge being built in and impacting an existing building that contains several businesses, like the Grand Wayne or the Fairfield

Marty Bender continued the questioning, primarily trying to understand how the stipulations would be enforced.

“Who’s going to do the enforcement on this?” Bender asked.

Booker cited existing city code, which shows that businesses already exempt are being checked by multiple departments in the city and county.

“There is a list of people that will do enforcement on this. We have the Allen County Health Department, we have the Fire Department, we have ATC (Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission), we have IDEM (Indiana Department of Environmental Management),” Booker replied.

Councilmen Scott Myers and Paul Ensley raised some concerns about unintended impacts, mostly minors sneaking in, or the impact of smoke on employees.

Booker referred to the age rule that would govern these businesses and pointed out that state code will also require signage governing age and substances that are allowed to be smoked.

“There has to be signage that says you can’t smoke cigarettes in there, and it is up to the establishments to ensure that people don’t do that,” Booker said.

As for the employees, Myers’ point rang true, but city attorney Joe Bonahoom implied that exposure to smoke comes with the territory of working at a cigar lounge.

“They’re not protected from smoking; this is an exemption to that, that the state has put in place and that they’re asking for us to put in place locally,” Bonahoom said. “Our smoking ban is probably the most restrictive smoking ban in the state; ours was in place prior to when the state passed their smoking ban.”

 

Source: https://www.wane.com/top-stories/smoking-indoors-cigar-lounge-bill-hits-fort-wayne-city-council/

[JohnS]

Council gives initial approval to cigar lounge exemption to smoking ban

Tony Sandleben - The Journal Gazette

Almost two decades after the city banned smoking in public places and most buildings, Fort Wayne could soon see cigar lounges in the community.

Council members Michelle Chambers, D-at large, and Rohli Booker, D-6th, on Tuesday presented a proposal for an exemption to the city’s smoking ban that would allow for cigar lounges to open in the city. They said the proposal comes after more than two years of research.

“This amendment is not about promoting smoking,” Chambers said at Tuesday’s council meeting. “It is about creating a very narrow, clearly defined pathway for adult-only, cigar-only, establishments, not restaurants, not bars and certainly not spaces where families or the general public would be unknowingly exposed to smoke.”

The proposal defines cigar lounges as establishments that only allow those 21 and older to enter, do not sell cigarettes, do not generate more than 60% of their revenue from food and beverage sales and generate at least 20% of their income from cigar-related sales.

“It came to our attention that there was really no straightforward or clear path for someone who wanted to open a cigar lounge to do that here in the city of Fort Wayne,” Booker said. “So, we started to find out what we could do to support business owners, (both) existing and those who may want to enter into that sort of business.”

Retail tobacco stores, including Rudy’s and Copper Canyon Tobacconist and Cigar Bar, are allowed to provide smoking areas in their buildings under the current law.

Chambers said the biggest difference between a retail store and a cigar lounge is a cigar lounge is required to an HVAC system that regulates the secondhand smoke and does not sell cigarettes, chewing tobacco or vapes.

“The tobacco products in a cigar lounge are just cigars,” she said.

The proposal opens the door for a place like Havana Cigar Lounge in Fishers to move to Fort Wayne. Booker said she and Chambers remain advocates for healthy living in Fort Wayne but also see this as supporting freedom of choice.

“We don’t want to roll back anything we’ve put in place to protect public health, but we also want to deregulate enough to give people who would like to enjoy a cigar the option to do that,” she said.

Councilman Marty Bender, R-at large, during discussion asked who would enforce the regulations. Booker said the Allen County Department of Health or the Fort Wayne Fire Department would respond to local complaints. For example, if someone were to light a cigarette in a cigar lounge, another person there – a patron or employee – would have to call and complain to enforce the cigarette ban. Booker said other enforcement agencies include the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.

Councilman Russ Jehl, R-2nd, said that would require coordination from those agencies.

“I haven’t heard anything from any of the agencies that will be enforcing this,” he said. “So, I will spend the next week double checking with them to make sure that they are able to enforce this and implement it.”

Jehl, along with the rest of the council, supported the proposal. It will require a council vote on final passage in a regular session at a future meeting. Preliminary votes rarely change.

Source: https://www.journalgazette.net/local/local-government/council-gives-initial-approval-to-cigar-lounge-exemption-to-smoking-ban/article_e0fe03f4-b297-444a-b295-0dbad72994fd.html

[JohnS]

Fort Wayne: Cigar lounges get approval from City Council

Posted: Dec 9, 2025

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Should you be allowed to smoke a cigar inside a business?

It’s a question Fort Wayne city council has been pondering this month with an ordinance that would clear the way for cigar lounges, which would let people smoke cigars indoors while enjoying alcohol and food, as long as the businesses meet the following stipulations:

• Cigar lounge owners have to hold a beer, liquor, or wine retailer’s permit.
• Cigar lounges must be restricted to customers 21 and older.
• Food and beverage sales cannot equal or exceed 60% of the business’s annual gross income.
• After a cigar lounge has been open for a year, at least 20% of the lounge’s annual gross income must be from the sale of cigars and the rental of on-site humidors.
• The person in charge of the Cigar Lounge posts in the establishment conspicuous signs that display the message that cigarette smoking is prohibited.
• The business limits smoking in the establishment to cigar smoking.

At the last City Council meeting, the legislative body voted 9-0 to preliminarily approve the ordinance, but some councilmembers raised concerns as to how it would be enforced and potential ways it could pose a problem for employees or youth trying to sneak into establishments.

On Tuesday, however, those concerns proved minimal as the ordinance was passed 8 to 1, with councilman (R) Marty Bender being the sole dissenter.

Councilwomen (D) Rohli Booker and (D) Michelle Chambers brought the issue to the council and were pleased to see it see so much support; however, they weren’t numb to concerns brought up in public comment.

“We do prioritize public health,” Booker said. “Whether you support or or whether you’re in opposition, engagement is so important here.”

“I didn’t take this lightly… we began working on the amendment over two years ago”, Chambers said. “I am a cancer survivor myself, my mother is currently battling terminal breast cancer, so I don’t need to be reminded how precious and urgent health is. But I also believe that adults deserve the ability to make choices in clearly regulated environments, especially when those environments are not open to the public.”

Those concerns were impassioned fears about what allowing cigar lounges would mean for the city’s health.

“I do not want to see any more people in our community exposed to preventable exposure of carcinogens and cardiac toxins,” said Nancy Cripe, Executive Director of Tobacco Free Allen County. “The smoke from any form of tobacco, any form of smoked tobacco, definitely causes cancer, definitely causes heart disease. We don’t need to be expanding access to that.”

Kaylee Fetty, who serves on the Fort Wayne Mayor’s Youth Engagement Council, addressed council members during the meeting, citing issues specific to Fort Wayne’s youth.

“You’re probably wondering what a teenage girl has to say about cigar lounges. It may not seem obvious, but cigar lounges and other tobacco-related products, events, and facilities have a major impact on teens,” Fetty said. “Teens will hear or see these logos, and that can glamorize tobacco use. When you make anything social, it automatically becomes more interesting for teens.”

Council was also addressed by Dawn Moore, a business owner who is excited to serve alcohol and food in a building where people can smoke cigars.

Moore acknowledges that there are health tradeoffs, but she believes that prioritizing the choice of adults will bolster the local economy.

“When you think about the economic development, increasing the tax base, regenerating revenue in the southeast side… I know how important it is to live in a thriving community, and I want my community to look like that,” Moore told WANE 15 after the meeting.

Moore says that this will particularly benefit southeast Fort Wayne, where she plans to open up a cigar lounge called Pop’s Cigar Lounge. In the past, she’s described the atmosphere she wants as a “modern living room.”

“You know, sip your bourbon with your favorite cigar,” Moore said last week.

Throughout the process, Moore has been very complimentary to councilwomen Chambers and Booker, but also (D) Mayor Sharon Tucker. She claims that Tucker began the groundwork that has resulted in this outcome when she was still on the city council in the form of Project Activate Southeast.

“Her vision was just to see community development on the southeast side, and I’m just going to carry that torch,” Moore said.

Moore noted that when she finds a building, she’ll be “full speed ahead” for opening her business. 

Source: https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/fort-wayne-cigar-lounges-get-approval-from-city-council/