Vancouver hookah lounge owners and cigar shop managers gave a whoop and round of applause at yesterday's city council meeting after carving out an exemption from the city's new anti-smoking bylaw.

The motion bans smoking on all restaurant and bar patios and in smoking rooms, transit stops, and within six metres of any public doorway or air intake. But councillors stopped short of shutting down businesses whose sole livelihood is the sale of tobacco products.

Those businesses are not in the clear yet, though. The exemption will be revisited next spring, after the provincial government releases its updated Public Health Act.

"The decision was really good, for now," said Abbas Bansaid, owner and only staff member at the Ahwaz Hookah House on West Georgia Street.

"I was expecting the worst thing: for them to make the decision to close our business."

Many hookah enthusiasts stepped up to the mike to argue for the cultural merits of hookah tea houses, pointing out that they are the only traditional social hot spots open for Muslims, whose faith prohibits them from drinking.

Ashwin Benny, manager of La Casa Del Habano, said her cigar store recently spent more than $100,000 on an elaborate smoke extraction system that prevents any trace of smoke from wafting into the main store.

"There's no reason for anyone to go in [our smoking room] except to be invited in and to enjoy a cigar," she said.

As for the businesses that didn't escape the smoking ban, a six-month period of non-enforcement and public consultation is now in place to give owners time to bring concerns to council.

Nash Mann, owner of Balthazar Restaurant in Vancouver, isn't worried he will lose business because of the smoking prohibition on his two patios.

But he is angry about the $30,000 to $50,000 he will need to spend to renovate his formerly licensed smoking room, and concerned about how the exodus of smokers will affect noise complaints around his establishment.

"Late at night a lot of people are going to be going out on to the street [to smoke] and making all kinds of ruckus, and a lot of neighbours are going to be upset about the noise, so I'd like to know what the city has to say about that," he said.

Once the six-month trial period is up, fines for non-compliance will range from $100 to $500 for individuals and up to $2,000 for businesses.

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