From today’s Carolina Journal comes this development in the story of Hookah Bliss, the Chapel Hill hookah bar that has been waging a fight against the state’s smoking ban.
Hookah bar owner Adam Bliss had long feared the state’s smoking ban would effectively shut down his Chapel Hill business and take his $70,000 investment with it. But today, Bliss says his failure to pay his property taxes led his landlord to padlock the doors on Hookah Bliss.
The move puts an end to the 42-year-old’s family business and to his months-long public battle against Orange County over its enforcement of the state’s smoking ban.
“It’s over. There’s not much else I can do,” said Bliss, who told CJ he owes $4,000 in property taxes that were due in December 2009. He also has not paid $2,100 in rent that was due in early April. “I just couldn’t make enough money to pay the bills.”
