Overview
- Supervisor Myrna Melgar’s April proposal would outlaw smoking on outdoor patios at bars and taverns and scrap local exemptions, with a Board of Supervisors vote expected in late May or June after a mid-May committee review.
- The ordinance leans on UCSF measurements from 2022 that found peak pollution on six of nine patios reached the EPA’s unhealthy range and one cigar patio hit hazardous levels, which supporters say shows risk to staff and nearby residents.
- More than a dozen bars launched a petition nearing 2,000 signatures, warning the rule would push enforcement onto bartenders, sour customer relations, and cut sales at businesses still rebuilding.
- The Small Business Commission voted unanimously in April not to support the measure, and LGBTQ+ bars, cigar venues, and hookah spots say ending exemptions could cancel core events, erase legal smoking spaces, and push smokers onto sidewalks.
- California already bans smoking inside bars and on restaurant patios, and many Bay Area cities restrict patio smoking at bars, but San Francisco still allows it under current city rules.