St. Charles tobacco shop can keep indoor lounge

In the last week, cigars at the indoor cigar smoking lounge at the Bear & Bull tobacco shop in St. Charles have probably been lit for a taste test as well as a triumph.

A Kane County judge recently ruled the shop was not in violation of its lease — thereby preserving the smoking lounge.

Earlier this year, ShoDeen Management of Geneva accused the long-standing tobacco shop of violating its lease, arguing that noxious odors were emanating from the building.

Attorneys for the tobacco shop sued, arguing that the lease, first signed in August 1997, had a provision that allowed for indoor smoking and that ShoDeen needed to abide by it.

Judge Robert Mueller agreed with the Bull & Bear, granting a summary judgment in its favor.

“At this junction, we're glad the case did not have to go to trial,” Bull & Bear attorney Tracy Stevenson said. “We're just glad to be up and running without any litigation pending at the moment.”

Stevenson had argued in court filings that the odor of smoke was not a nuisance and shop owner Zita Harmon had taken reasonable steps to contain it.

“As Bull & Bear's lease preceded virtually all other tenants, plain interpretation of the agreement dictates that the occasional odor of cigar smoke, if indeed proven to come from Bull & Bear, is not actionable. It is akin to buying a home near O'Hare Airport and then complaining of noise,” Stevenson wrote.

ShoDeen's attorney Robert Minetz could not be reached for comment. Stevenson said her client has not decided on whether to seek attorney fees from ShoDeen.Senior safety: The Central Kane County TRIAD will hold a Senior Safety Academy called #8220;Driver Safety for Seniors#8221; from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 26 at Building 351 at Delnor Hospital, 300 Randall Road, Geneva. Seniors can expect to learn age-related changes that may affect driving, state requirements for driving, safe driving for seniors and when drivers should retire.Those interested in attending must RSVP no later than Oct. 21 to the Geneva Senior Center at (630) 232-3602.Free coffee and doughnuts will be provided before the seminar and a free lunch will follow. Traffic stings paying off: The Campton Hills Police Department recently announced it made one impaired driving arrest, issued two seat belt tickets and wrote 61 other citations during a Labor Day traffic checkpoint.#8220;Our enforcement numbers are going down after each successive holiday enforcement detail, especially our DUI and arrests and seat belt violations,#8221; Chief Dan Hoffman said. #8220;The special enforcement program is working. More and more drivers are complying with the law. My officers are seeing an increased amount of cabs driving through the village, especially late at night.#8221;The recent law enforcement crackdown was funded by federal traffic safety funds through the Illinois Department of Transportation's Division of Traffic Safety.