CWNews
Illinois Tobacconist Fights Eviction Battle
By Elizabeth Stoever, estoever@mysuburbanlife.com
Posted Aug 02, 2011 @ 11:05 AM
Last update Aug 02, 2011 @ 12:24 PM
St. Charles, IL —
Inside Bull and Bear Tobacco shop on a warm Wednesday afternoon, a group of men lounged on leather couches smoking cigars and chatting softly among themselves. It’s a typical sight any day the shop is open.
This day, however, was a little different. Suddenly, a woman walked in and began complaining openly to everyone about the “strong” smoke smell that she could detect from a nearby business. She asked for a filtration system to be turned on. But it was. Fans were running, too. “I've exhausted everything I could possibly do,” said Zita Harmon, who owns the premium tobacconist shop. “I don't know what's left to do in my control.”
Regardless, the complaints continue from some neighboring businesses. Since the building is part of a shopping center on Illinois Street, there are several neighbors. While complaints don't often come as directly, the shop's landlord, ShoDeen Management, has been hearing most of them, said Robert Minetz, the attorney for ShoDeen Management.
In St. Charles, Bull and Bear Tobacco is one of few shops where people can socialize while smoking after Illinois' public smoking ban took effect in 2008. But, depending on the outcome of a lawsuit, that may soon change. After receiving a Notice of Default in February from ShoDeen telling Harmon she was in violation of her lease because of the odor, Harmon decided to sue the company asking them to uphold the lease that ends in 2014. “(The letter) was the course of action to try and evict us,” she said.
Calls to Eric ShoDeen, the owner of ShoDeen Management, were not returned.
In Illinois, shops that make more than 80 percent of sales through tobacco products can allow smoking indoors. Because the shop has been open since 1995, it also operates under the grandfather clause, Harmon said. The clause allows smoking in the shop — despite a smoking ban in stores within shopping centers that share the same building. If Harmon moved, she'd have to get a stand-alone building —a much more expensive option, she said. “It's very stressful for me,” she said. “I've gone from being an excellent tenant to one they want to evict.” In this economy, Harmon argues that St. Charles can't lose any more retailers. “I'm not going to be thrown out and risk losing my business,” she said.
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While smoking is allowed inside, part of the lease also states that tenants cannot release toxic odors, he added. “People on the second floor smell it and don't like it,” he said. “Everyone knows it’s cigar smoke.” The issue arose after a business office upstairs expanded about two years ago, according to Harmon’s attorney Tracy Stevenson. Since the office is now more directly above of the shop, the business owners have begun to complain, Stevenson said. Those at the business, ALE Solutions, as well as the owner of a salon next door to the cigar shop declined to comment.
For Harmon, the odor comes not just from smoke, but also from the smell of unlit tobacco in the shop. In addition, Harmon said cigarette smoking is generally not allowed in the shop. There's a big difference between cigarette and cigar smoke because of additives in cigarettes and the difference in tobacco quality, she said. Over the last few years, however, complaints of the smell have increased, Minetz said.
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The next hearing will take place at the end of August. The judge will either decide to grant summary judgment or to schedule a trial. Meanwhile, Harmon’s customers are still smoking at the shop.“All of a sudden what we've been doing for 16 years is no longer permitted,” Harmon said.
