CINCINNATI — Cincinnati council member Mark Jeffreys has proposed an ordinance that, if passed by city council, would shorten the hours hookah bars are allowed to operate within city limits.
The ordinance seeks to mandate that hookah bars can only operate between the hours of 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays, and between the hours of 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
The ordinance was scheduled to be proposed during a Wednesday afternoon city council meeting, but it was moved to Monday, September 15.
We have reported for weeks on issues residents have dealt with around some hookah bars, where patrons often stay until the early morning hours, after area bars have closed for the night.
The City of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Board of Health filed a lawsuit against Bohemian Hookah Cafe in Clifton earlier this month. The lawsuit claims the Bohemian Hookah Cafe repeatedly sold tobacco to someone under the age of 21 and repeatedly violated the Ohio Smoke Free Workplace Act by allowing smoking indoors without obtaining an exemption from the Ohio Department of Health.
WATCH: We talk with people living in Clifton about the new hookah lounge lawsuit
We talked with Ludlow Wines owner Mike Anagnostou right across the street from the bar after obtaining a copy of the lawsuit.
He told us the timing was uncanny, as the Clifton Business Association was planning to file a nuisance lawsuit before we called.
"We were meeting with an attorney today for that very reason, and then I was contacted by you and told about the lawsuit," Anagnostou said. "So, the timing of it was really astounding to me."
Before that, the city also filed a lawsuit against Miami Hookah Bar & Grill in March, alleging the Roselawn business was operating as an illegal bar and night club. Two people were shot outside the hookah bar in August; less than 24 hours later, another man was taken to the hospital with serious injuries after someone shot him outside VYBEZ Hookah Bar & Grill, which is located a few blocks north of Miami Hookah and Grill, also on Reading Road.
Neighbors in Roselawn told us they'd experienced issues with patrons of the hookah bars, including partying into the early hours of the morning. Business owner Thaddaus Dawson Sr. told us he wasn't surprised to hear people had been shot near the hookah bars.
"A lot of disturbance on Friday, Saturday, and sometimes on Sunday," Dawson said. "I've passed here at 5 a.m. and people are still out, milling around. These guys will pull up with their loud music, and they're very disrespectful... we have a tow truck that comes and tows people. We probably average three or four people a weekend having towed away. I've had 'No Parking' signs up. They've torn the 'No Parking' signs down. They always leave me with the beer bottles, the whiskey bottles and the trash that they don't want. We have to clean it up."
In all, eight lawsuits have been filed against area hookah bars that were deemed nuisance properties since 2023. The businesses at the center of the complaints are Red Room Hookah, Hookah on the Rhine, Miami Hookah, Haze Hookah, Jerina’s Lounge, Legacy Lounge, Rusconi’s and 125 Lounge.
The Cincinnati Board of Health recently passed a resolution that grants the agency the authority to involve the city's law department and pursue legal action when needed, providing an additional tool to ensure compliance with the act in situations where other enforcement efforts have not resolved the issue.
WATCH: The Cincinnati Health Commissioner explains the significance of the resolution
Under the act, the state’s full authority to bring cases to court did not extend to local boards of health, Cincinnati's law department said. The City of Cincinnati has been able to pursue legal action against eight hookah lounges since 2023, but those lawsuits took time to craft by compiling evidence, including citations, records of police calls for service and collective community complaints.
We reported on some of those efforts in a 2024 I-Team investigation.
The city said this resolution will help in efforts to crack down on hookah establishments that are proving problematic because the BOH can now work with the law department to file a court injunction.
