CICERO - Onondaga County granted the first waiver for New York's controversial smoking ban, and local tavern owners hope the decision will push the Cayuga County Board of Health to establish its own hardship waiver system.

Damon's Party House in Onondaga County was given a one-year waiver to the Clean Indoor Air Act, the first waiver granted in the state since the smoking ban went into effect in July.

Owner Dave Damon, 69, had to fill out a seven-page form from his county's health department to get the waiver. He documented his sales had dropped 40 percent since the ban began. His crowds for Friday night karoake went from 70 to around a dozen during the past several months.

"This was our fourth year in business. The three years previous were good, and all of sudden - bingo, bango - down it went," Damon said.

In Onondaga County, about 100 business owners have requested waiver forms. Two dozen have submitted the $100 application.

The Cayuga County Board of Health recently agreed to establish a committee to examine the issue of hardship waivers.

"The work group is committed to gathering as much information as possible so we can report to the board intelligently on this," said committee member Eileen O'Connor, the county's Environmental Health director. The committee will make its report to the Board of Health Jan. 27.

While many businesses are suffering due to the ban, some have opted to ignore it. Patty Glanville, the owner of Costello's on Aurelius Avenue in Auburn, lets patrons smoke at her bar. She believes since she is the only employee at the business, Costello's is exempt.

"I'm not taking away my ashtrays," Glanville said.

The county, though, doesn't agree. Glanville has been fined $100, and must now appear at a Board of Health hearing Jan. 20. Glanville's fine could be increased to $2,000.

The two biggest hurdles for bars and restaurants, Damon believes, is providing complete financial records dating back to August 2001, and installing a smoke-elimination system. Customers at Damon's can't smoke at the main bar, but must smoke their cigarettes in a separate ventilated banquet room. They can take their drinks back to the room.

"If you don't keep good records, you're done at the start," said Damon, who quickly adds he was fortunate his 6,200-square foot bar has separate rooms that keep second-hand smoke from non-smoking customers.

Damon believes the law should have been grandfathered in, the ban taking effect only when a business changed hands.

"Over the next 10, 15 years, they would have accomplished their goal without killing businesses that had 70 percent smokers at their bar when the law went into effect," Damon said.

Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long said a poll done by his organization shows that nearly 70 percent of all voters believe there should be a reasonable accommodation for smokers.

"The Legislature just went too far. Voters wisely know we can find a workable way to handle smoking without big government crushing everybody's freedom of choice. Even non-smokers are offended by the Legislature's extreme methods," Long said.

Damon agrees.

"The question here is freedom and choice, more than anything else," Damon said. "I'm sick of the government intervening into every phase of everybody's life. I call it cradle-to-grave government."