STARTUP – The Sky River Pub &Eatery in Startup has been ordered by a Snohomish County Superior Court judge to prohibit patrons from smoking inside the bar.

A preliminary injunction was issued Wednesday by Judge Anita Farris. It requires the pub to comply with the state’s indoor smoking ban. Voters approved the smoking ban in 2005.

Pam Wessel-Estes, who oversees the Snohomish Health District’s tobacco program, said that the public health agency had talked several times with the owner of the pub about patrons who were smoking.

Wessel-Estes said that the agency took action after receiving complaints from the public that alleged smoking was occurring inside the pub.

Health district inspectors went to the pub several times and found no one smoking, she said.

“A lot of people complaining (about smokers) indicated that they were watching for us,” Wessel-Estes said. Employees drive white cars with the words Snohomish Health District painted on the doors.

However, a food inspector who went to the pub did see people violating the indoor smoking ban, she said, as did a Sultan police officer.

A letter was sent to the pub in December signed by the public health agency’s top official, telling the pub to comply with the smoking law, Wessel-Estes said.

“Legal action is the last step,” she said.

Thomas Graafstra, the attorney for the pub, declined comment Wednesday afternoon. The owner of the pub, Linda Palmer, could not be reached for comment.

Wessel-Estes said that the number of complaints from the public reporting violations of the indoor smoking ban has declined over the past year.

In the first quarter of last year, 141 people contacted the health district about smoking occurring indoors, she said. By the fourth quarter of last year, the number of complaints had dropped to 34.

Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.