Pepperdine students want to open store by next year

Adam Wall envisions a place where people can escape the stresses of work with a fine cigar and a good cup of coffee.

Wall and his business partner, Nathan Welch, are working to make that dream a reality. They hope to open a cigar shop in Camarillo this year.

The two entrepreneurs, seniors at Pepperdine University, attended the Jan. 13 Camarillo City Council meeting to see if their proposed business would be compatible with city guidelines.

Before the meeting they met with City Manager Jerry Bankston, who provided them with information on Camarillo’s smoking ordinance.

The ordinance covers indoor smoking prohibitions and is being expanded to address smoking outdoors as well. Camarillo’s proposed changes would require individuals to smoke at least 25 feet away from a place of business, which is 5 feet farther away than the state’s requirement concerning smoking outside public buildings.

Councilmember Mike Morgan is willing to work with the pair to allow them to operate the cigar lounge within city guidelines.

“I think if they have a ventilation system and purifier (it could work),” Morgan said, adding, “They have their rights as long as it doesn’t impact anyone else.”

The proposal for the store came up during the study session at the council meeting.

City Councilmember Charlotte Craven focused on ventilation and whether the business would share adjoining walls with other businesses or be a stand-alone structure. The possibility of an enclosed smoking room inside the lounge with its own ventilation was also brought up.

Mayor Kevin Kildee reserved comment, and Morgan declined to go into too much detail until more discussion on the proposed changes to the city’s smoking ordinance takes place at the next council meeting.

“As a general rule, the city supports business owners and tries to be flexible with the many constraints we deal with, such as balancing business with the issue of secondhand smoke,” Assistant City Manager Bruce Feng said.

Other cities have made allowances for businesses that sell tobacco products. Moorpark revised its smoking ordinance in July, exempting tobacco distributors, retail tobacco stores and similar types of businesses from strict smoking bans.

Wall sees Camarillo, specifically the Old Town section, as an ideal location for the cigar lounge. It would allow people to go shopping, eat out and stop by the lounge at the end of the evening, he said.

The Newbury Park native envisions the lounge as a “classy place where people can gather and have good social interaction.”

He said Camarillo has the right demographics for a successful business. Wall described a potential patron as “somebody who is looking to get away from the work world and relax for a little while.”

He also indicated there could be interest from students at California State University Channel Islands.

Wall hopes to open in the fall, if everything goes smoothly. He and Welch have their business plan in place and are starting to look for investors.

“If all goes well, we’re hoping to open by September,” Wall said. “That would be nice, before the next holiday season.”

The two friends wrote a letter to the Camarillo City Council addressing their thoughts concerning the smoking ordinance.

In part, the letter made a distinction between cigarette smokers and cigar and pipe smokers, saying, “Cigar and pipe smokers are not compelled by addiction to smoke around those who are not smokers.”

And it maintained that less litter results from people who smoke pipes and cigars relative to cigarette smokers.

The memorandum also referenced two local cigar companies, Old Oaks Cigar Company and The Cigar Zone, both in Thousand Oaks.

Wall said he believes lounge customers would abide by the proposed ordinance change and only smoke inside the lounge and not right outside the store.

“I think the people (of Camarillo) have a high enough stature that they would respect that,” Wall said.