L.A. bars rush to comply with non-smoking law.

Several L.A.-area bars are undertaking 11th-hour capital improvements to comply with the ban on smoking that takes effect Jan. 1.

Other establishments are making subtler changes to qualify for exemptions in the law; while still others are doing nothing and hoping not to lose too many smoking patrons.

At Sutter's Mill, a restaurant and bar in Mission Hills, owner Mary Woods is reluctantly preparing to spend about $100,000 to build an outdoor patio to accommodate smokers, who she says comprise about 30 percent of her clientele.

The 1994 law allows smoking on outdoor patios, so as long as those patios are sealed off from the indoor areas. Proprietors wishing to sell alcohol on their patios must get government clearance to do so.

"We don't like the government telling us what we can or cannot do, but if we want to keep our customers, we've got to build the patio," Wood said.

The Formosa Care in West Hollywood is also building an outdoor patio, according to daytime manager William Wagner - mostly to free up more space for customers, though Wagner said the new law was a catalyst.

Other types of establishments are also spending money to comply with the law.

Overstreet's and Hamiltons in Beverly Hills has a tobacco shop attached to its smoking lounge. In order to qualify for an exemption from the ban, Overstreet's is spending between $10,000 and $15,000 to install glass partitions separating the shop and the lounge, according to manager Jack Griffiths.

(Cigar lounges adjoining tobacco shops are exempt from the ban if they either have five or fewer employees or install a partition to keep shop employees from breathing the smoke from the lounge.)

The 1994 law, designed to protect the health of employees from the dangers of second-hand smoke, contains a few other exemptions, including specially set-aside portions of hotels, hotel lobbies and banquet rooms when no food or beverages are being served, said Ken August, spokesman for the California Department of Health Services.

The much broader first phase of the law which covers restaurants, most places of employment and public buildings - took effect Jan. 1, 1995. The ban on smoking in bars and restaurants with bars was originally slated to take effect Jan. 1, 1997, but the state Legislature last year granted a one-year postponement.

Among the hardest hit are likely to be stand-alone bars, like Tom Bergin's Irish pub in the Miracle Mile district.

Bergin's owner Mike Mandekic is apprehensive about the ban's impact.

"About 70 percent of my customers smoke; many of them say they will not come here as often after Jan. 1. If they hold true to their word - and we really have no way of knowing until it happens - then I may have to lay off some employees," he said.

An informal survey of patrons at Bergin's during last week's Monday Night Football game elicited a range of responses.

"I love this place. (But) if I can't smoke, I may not come here as often," said Sharon Quinn. "It's really too bad. The state is acting like a parent here."

However, Randy Richard said he would not stop coming. "If you can't smoke in bars, you can't smoke in bars. We'll just have to step outside," Richard said.

One stand-alone bar in town already has experience with a smoke-free environment: Father's Office in Santa Monica, which went smoke-free voluntarily in 1991.

"Back in 1990, when all the news about second-hand smoke started hitting the press, many of our employees were concerned about the health impacts. So we did a test to see what would happen if we banned smoking," said owner Lou Moench.

After nine months, Moench said there was no discernable difference in sales. "When I found that there was no impact on sales, I knew I could accommodate the concerns of my employees," he said. "Our business has continued to grow since we instituted the smoking ban, although I doubt that the non-smoking policy has contributed to that. On the other hand, I'm not out of business either."

Some smokers left for other bars, he said; however, that drop was offset by new patrons, some of whom came specifically for the smoke-free environment.

Moench said he supports the statewide ban on smoking in bars.

"If bar owners continue to cling to the smoking population, especially as the percentage of smokers continues to drop, then there will definitely be a shakeout. They need to move beyond and target the larger population to survive," he said.

Others disagreed.

"Smoking goes along with drinking. People here work hard and when it comes time to play, they don't want to be told not to smoke. They will simply go home and do what they want to do there," said Sutter's Mill owner Woods. "Besides, smokers here tend to spend more and to tip more than our non-smoking patrons. So replacing them with non-smokers won't work."