St. Louis Circuit Judge David L. Dowd ordered on Friday that the Trophy Room bar did not show sufficient evidence of immediate irreparable harm.
"The balance between the harm to petitioners and injury to others does not weigh in favor of granting a preliminary injunction," Dowd wrote. "Finally, the public interest would not be furthered by granting a preliminary injunction in this matter."
The Trophy Room had won a ten day reprieve in order to argue its case. Now, the bar was go non-smoking.
The bar, at 5099 Arsenal, argued the city's 2011 "Smoke Free Air Act" was unconstitutional, granted unfair exemptions, was vague, and forced the bar to unfairly compete with other smoking bars in nearby St. Louis County, where exemptions remain in place.
The law, which granted 100 bars five-year smoking exemptions in 2011, went into full force on Jan. 2. Exemptions for casino gaming areas and tobacco stores, like Lumiere Place Casino or Stanley's Cigar Bar in downtown, remain in place.
The Trophy Room's suit argues that the law “grants a special or exclusive right, privilege or immunity” to casinos such as Lumière, which would keep its exemption. Bar owners say that sets a double standard.
The Trophy Room argued that it operates Missouri Lottery's Keno game, which makes it a gaming area.
"The court does not find it is probable that petitioners' retail license to sell Missouri Lottery products renders the subject property a 'casino gaming area,'" Dowd wrote.
It remains unclear how vigorously the city will enforce the ordinance. Bars can be fined $500 a day for violating it, but so far no citations have been written.
Resource: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/city-smoking-ban-remains-in-force-st-louis-judge-rules/article_68567f7b-ba97-5f8d-bcb5-6f654dac9e86.html
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