One of the only places where you'll find a cigar lit in Sugar Land Town Square is inside Cigar Cigar.
"I think it's absurd," Cigar Cigar member Mike Johanson said. "Yeah, I used to like sitting on the porch. But apparently we don't get to do that anymore so not too happy about it."
Owners of Cigar Cigar say they received a letter from the property management in May stating that it was changing the rules of its lease, prohibiting smoking of cigars or pipes within all outdoor or common areas. Cigarette smoking, however, is still allowed.
"I couldn't believe it. I really couldn't believe what they were doing," the store's general manager Tom Parks said.
Parks says folks have been smoking on the patio for four and a half years. He tells us the patio was even built by the landlord as incentive to relocate here before that. Parks adds further that under the city ordinance, smoking there is legal.
"They feel it's just another example of a big company squeezing a small business and infringing upon rights of a perfectly legal practice," Parks said.
Cigar Cigar and its attorney figure the ban is the result of complaints from patrons at two adjacent restaurants who didn't like the smell of the smoke. Representatives at neither restaurant were willing to discuss the issue Thursday.
Cigar Cigar says the Sugar Land Property Owners Association and PCD Management have threatened to lock them out or kick them out if the cigar smoking continues on the patio.
PCD Management has refused our repeated requests for comment, saying they cannot discuss pending litigation.
