When Chicago banned smoking in bars and restaurants five years ago, it inadvertently created a loophole exploited by hookah bars that serve flavored tobacco. They turned into “super-bars” that allow patrons, some of them under-age, to bring in their own liquor and food or have food delivered. Some even offer live music without the required public place of amusement (PPA) license.
On Tuesday, July 27th, the loophole originally intended for cigar and tobacco shop sampling was closed. At the behest of North Side Aldermen Pat O’Connor (40th) and Marge Laurino (39th), the City Council’s Zoning Committee agreed to require hookah bars to obtain “special use permits” that need authorization from local residents and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Alderman O’Connor introduced the ordinance at Wednesday’s City Council meeting after doing battle with several problem establishments. “Fights, drinking inside, drinking outside, gunshots, people coming from all over. We can’t allow that to take hold in a community. I don’t want to be fighting a hookah license from a disadvantage after they’ve turned into a bad establishment. If you go on the internet, kids say, ‘You can get in here. They’ll put you in the back, so people don’t know you’re under-age.’… They’re private little clubhouses that allow kids to drink under age, smoke under age and bring in food. They’re doing things that a regular restaurant couldn’t do.”
Hookah bars originated in India and gained popularity in the Middle East before picking up steam in the U.S., primarily in cities and college towns. Chicago has at least 33 hookah bars, according to an industry website. For $18-to-$20, young people can sit around a table and smoke flavored tobacco from a water pipe. ”Take a place that rents a hookah and sells tobacco and try and figure out how they make their money and pay the rent. It’s hard to figure how that equation works without something else. All we’re saying is that if you want to have a hookah bar, it needs to have a special use permit. You need to go to the community, tell them your business plan and how you’re going to run it and let them have some say.”
