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SEATTLE (AP) — Public health officials have reached a settlement of their case against a Seattle hookah lounge. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray had been trying to shut down Seattle's 11 hookah lounges for violating a ban on indoor smoking.
Under a new agreement reached Friday, $100,000 in penalties against the Medina Hookah Lounge have been dropped as long as the business operates strictly as a private club.
The Seattle Times reports (http://is.gd/ioGli6 ) the agreement clears the way for the mayor to reach agreements with the other hookah lounges in Seattle.
In order to operate as a private club, the Medina Hookah Lounge must have a secured entrance, no advertising, no alcohol, no more than 2,500 members and no paid employees.
Russell Knight, lawyer for the lounge, says the agreement is based on how members-only cigar lounges are allowed to operate in Seattle and King County without violating the smoking ban.
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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com
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