A man smokes a cigar and drinks a Mint Julep at Churchill Downs before the Kentucky Oaks race. (Justin Hicks)Louisvillians looking to smoke cigars at a bar will no longer have to travel across the river to Southern Indiana.Metro Council voted Thursday night to carve out a new exemption to the 2008 i ndoor smoking ban. Bars with at least 15% of their gross revenues coming from the sale of cigars and pipe tobacco will be allowed to have their patrons smoke those products in the building. The change passed the council by a wide margin, 20-6, after a similar proposal failed two years ago.District 19 Council Member Anthony Piagentini, who chairs the Republican Caucus, sponsored the ordinance. He said he thinks it will lead to a handful of cigar bars opening in Louisville, allowing a city focused on bourbon tourism to add a new offering.“Over and over again, when I speak to hoteliers and others in the downtown area, they say the same thing: We lose business to Southern Indiana because we do not have this,” Piagentini said.Piagentini’s argument that the new exemption makes economic sense was bolstered by the city’s official marketing agency.On Monday, Piagentini shared a statement with his colleagues from Cleo Battle, the president and CEO of Louisville Tourism.“We know from countless conversations with visitors that there is demand for a venue where they can enjoy a premium bourbon alongside a cigar,” Battle wrote. “Currently, guests looking for this experience are leaving Louisville and taking their business to Southern Indiana, which puts our hospitality industry at a disadvantage.”Metro Council Republicans unanimously backed the ordinance. Democrats, meanwhile, were split.Two of the council’s progressive voices, District 3’s Shameka Parrish-Wright and District 6’s J.P. Lyninger, voted against the exemption.Lyninger argued that the health and safety of workers was more important than whatever revenue might come from legalizing cigar bars.“The people who will be staffing these bars are people who have less means than, absolutely, the average member of this body, and have a greater need to accept whatever paying job they can have,” he said. “They will be exposed to greater risks.”Lyninger also pushed back against Piagentini’s assertion that cigar bars do not pose a public health risk. Studies have found that smoking cigars leads to increased risk of developing cancer of the lungs, esophagus and larynx, as well as periodontal disease and tooth loss.Other Democrats on Metro Council, like District 9’s Andrew Owen, argued that going to cigar bars is a personal choice, and did not believe the exemption would lead to widespread indoor smoking, similar to what Louisville had before 2008.“I really do believe that this is a very narrow carve-out for aficionados,” Owen said. “That’s what I have seen happen in other states, that’s what I expect will happen here.”The ordinance includes a number of regulations. First, they must have a tobacco license and an alcohol sales license, which make them subject to inspections. They cannot allow anyone under the age of 21 to enter their establishment and they must ban the use of e-cigarettes.The ordinance also requires bars to have a separate, smoke-free area for mail and product deliveries, and limit the ability of smoke to travel into other buildings, if the bar shares a wall with another business or home.Jason Shepherd, who’s run a cigar shop on Bardstown Road in the Highlands for almost 17 years, said he supports any opportunity to increase his business. Passers-by often see customers and staff out on the front patio enjoying a cigar. But especially during the winter months, Shepherd said his customers are more likely to take the short drive to a cigar bar in Southern Indiana.“The past two years were the first time we’ve turned a profit,” he said. “We usually lose money in those two or three months, and March depending on the weather.”While he said he was generally supportive of the cigar bar exemption, he lamented the requirement to obtain a liquor license, which is an expensive and time-consuming process. Shepherd said he’d rather create a cigar lounge inside his shop that doesn’t sell alcohol.“I would take the time and money to remodel my store,” he said. “Cigar lounges foster responsibility, enjoyment, there’s a social aspect, and yeah, it creates and brings in business.”These types of cigar lounges that don’t serve alcohol would not be legal to operate in Louisville under the ordinance that passed Thursday night.A spokesperson for Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said he intends to allow the bill to become law without his signature on April 24.This story has been updated. ...read more read less