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Judge orders Dundarave cigar shop owner to butt out

The owner of a high-end jewelry and cigar store in Dundarave has been handed a permanent injunction by a B.C.
Cigar story

The owner of a high-end jewelry and cigar store in Dundarave has been handed a permanent injunction by a B.C. Supreme Court justice to stop him and his clients from smoking cigars indoors, an activity that neighbouring business owners have complained about for six years.

Cigar smoke has been regularly emanating from Absolute Star Design into some of the other 20 units in the two-storey rental building at 2430 Marine Dr. in West Vancouver, according to court documents. Absolute owner Gino Giragosian, as well as his customers and friends, have been smoking cigars inside the store, according to Bonavista Management Ltd., which oversees the building and is one of the plaintiffs in the case.

Smoking inside an enclosed premises is prohibited under West Vancouver’s smoking regulations, unless that business is not open to the public — which Absolute is — and the only occupants are the owners.

Giragosian, when contacted last week by the North Shore News, did not deny lighting up cigars inside his store.

“Let me put it this way, how stupid this is: I own a high-end jewelry and cigar store in West Van. And once in a while when I have a high-end client … the customer buys a big item and wants to sit down and have a scotch and a cigar — why not? We are not breaking rules. But there are some idiots, they don’t like the smell of cigar,” said Giragosian.

Giragosian, added he  doesn’t understand why exhaust from buses and trucks on the street is allowed while cigar fumes are a problem.

“The smoke off the bus or big trucks in the front of my store — it makes me sick,” said Giragosian. “Are you going to shut down the buses now?”

Bonavista has tried to get Giragosian to butt out the cigars numerous times since 2009, after receiving complaints from adjacent businesses Elegant Alterations and Dry Cleaning and Otto and Associates Insurance Agency, according to court documents  — to no avail.

Vancouver Coastal Health, which enforces the smoking bylaws, received two complaints about cigar smoke coming from Absolute and sent one of their environmental health officers to Giragosian’s store in late 2014 to advise him of the smoking regulations. “They said, ‘If you smoke — next time we are going to fine you, other than that you are OK.’ I go, Man, it’s not like I sit here and smoke every single day,’” said Giragosian, who says he smokes cigars inside his store about once a month.

On Jan. 29 of this year, Giragosian was observed smoking a cigar on the balcony at the back of his store, according to a sworn affidavit filed in court. As recently as April 29, cigar smoke has been detected inside the alterations shop next door to Absolute, according to owner Jila Mahinfar’s affidavit.

Mahinfar said in court documents some of her customers have complained their clothes smell like smoke and that may have financially affected her business, which she is now selling.

That was enough to convince B.C. Supreme Court Justice William Ehrcke that the cigar smoke emanating from Giragosian’s store “unreasonably interferes with the use and enjoyment of the rental units by the plaintiffs.”

Despite being served court papers, Giragosian and wife, Taline, who is also named in the suit, did not respond to the claim, appear in court for the hearing or file any evidence in the case, according to the recent decision.

Along with the stop smoking injunction, the property management company and neighbouring businesses also sought general and punitive damages, as well as special costs from Giragosian, none of which were specified in court documents.

“I don’t want to pay for damages,” said Giragosian, adding he has stopped all the cigar smoking at his store. He planned to appeal the judge’s ruling on costs.

Vancouver Coastal Health spokeswoman Viola Kaminski said enforcement of smoking regulations by the health authority always starts with education and then escalates to fines — which range from $58 to $575 depending on the offence — as additional complaints are investigated.

The lawyer for the businesses that launched the lawsuit refused to comment on the case, citing privacy concerns for his clients.

No one from Bonavista Management, Elegant Alterations or Otto & Associates Insurance Agency returned the North Shore News’ calls.