Matter of fairness on hookah lounge

Cultures, health issues and the finer points of the law clashed over smoking lounges in Schaumburg last week. In the end, common sense won a narrow victory -- but it was by no means a clear-cut contest.

The question before Schaumburg village board members was whether to overrule their code enforcement officer and grant the hookah lounge Arabian Nights an entertainment permit. The permit was originally denied on the basis of the state's new anti-smoking law, which states that entertainment businesses cannot allow smoking. If an entertainment business cannot allow smoking, village officers assumed, how could a smoking business allow entertainment?

On its face, that's difficult logic to combat. For, if the latter were permitted, we could envision either a gigantic loophole for entertainment businesses that want to allow smoking or at the very least a situation in which entertainment and pleasure-smoking venues are indistinguishable from each other.

In a story by Daily Herald reporter Eric Peterson, Schaumburg Trustee Tom Daily framed it as an issue of fairness. "When you deal with these things at a government level, you have to make sure you're treating everyone fairly," he said.

And, he's right. The law must be applied fairly -- and clearly. Fortunately, Illinois' law, on this point at least, offers a catch that addresses all those concerns. It specifically requires smoking businesses to earn 80 percent of their revenue from tobacco sales and devote 90 percent of their space to that purpose. Arabian Nights noted that it specifically set itself up to meet both those conditions.

The business made it clear that it does not intend for entertainment to attract its customers, but it does want the freedom to offer its customers something to do while they smoke. Clearly, John Mayer or Alicia Keyes, or even John Mayer or Alicia Keyes wannabes, aren't going to be playing to adoring crowds at Arabian Nights. The place will feature light entertainment, culturally attuned to the ambience that is its primary selling point.

This issue is, of course, complicated by the nature of the hookah business. Smoking tobacco is a dangerous and unhealthy activity that we are loath to encourage. But it remains a legal activity, and we cannot imagine that the patrons of Schaumburg's six hookah lounges and others throughout the suburbs are not aware of the hazards they are exposing themselves to. Nor would we support any relaxing of the regulations that constrain these businesses and distinguish them from bars, night clubs or other establishments that might want to permit smoking.

But within the constraints of the law, the Schaumburg village board had to walk a fine line last week between fairness and legal obligation. The board's 3-3 tie, broken by a rare vote from Village President Al Larson, demonstrated that the village did not take the issue lightly. Ultimately, it made the right choice in granting an entertainment permit.