Kepa, Inc., d/b/a She-Sha Café and Hookah Lounge v. Virginia Department of Health
Kepa, Inc., d/b/a She-Sha Café and Hookah Lounge v. Virginia Department of Health
Opinion of the Court
Appellant Kepa, Inc. challenges the ruling by the Circuit Court of Montgomery County upholding the Virginia Depart
BACKGROUND
Appellant owns and operates She-Sha Café and Hookah Lounge (“She-Sha”) in Blacksburg, Virginia. She-Sha has been in operation since 2003 and sells flavored tobacco products for its customers to use on the premises by smoking the tobacco through a hookah.
On January 22, 2010, the Department received a complaint claiming that She-Sha was allowing patrons to smoke within its establishment in violation of the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act (“VICAA”). On January 27, 2010, in a Food Establishment Evaluation Report (“the report”), She-Sha was cited by the Department for two noncritical violations of the VICAA: an individual was smoking in the building and the facility failed to post “no smoking” signs.
To contest the violations, appellant requested an informal fact finding hearing, which was held on March 22, 2010. By
Appellant then requested a formal adjudicatory hearing. Appellant also renewed its request for a summary case decision by the Department pursuant to Code § 2.2-4020.1.
The formal hearing was conducted on March 15, 2011. On May 19, 2011, the hearing officer recommended nine findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Department issued its case decision on June 17, 2011, in which the Health Commissioner adopted the hearing officer’s recommendations. The case decision upheld the violations noted in the report and stated that She-Sha is a restaurant subject to the regulations of the VICAA.
Appellant petitioned the Circuit Court of Montgomery County on August 12, 2011 for an appeal of the Department’s final decision in accordance with Code §§ 2.2-4026 and 2.2-
I. ANALYSIS
The issue on appeal is whether She-Sha is exempt from complying with the restaurant smoking ban contained in the VICAA. Appellant argues that the circuit court erred in upholding the Department’s case decision because She-Sha is a retail tobacco store and the applicability provisions of the VICAA exempt retail tobacco stores from regulation by the other provisions within the Act. The Department maintains that even if She-Sha is a retail tobacco store, it is also a restaurant and the VICAA prohibits smoking in restaurants. The Department also contends that the VICAA provides express exemptions to the restaurant smoking ban, none of which apply to She-Sha.
The Virginia Administrative Process Act (“VAPA”) authorizes judicial review of agency decisions. See Code § 2.2-4027. Under settled principles, the burden is upon the party appealing such a decision to demonstrate error. Avante at Roanoke v. Finnerty, 56 Va.App. 190, 197, 692 S.E.2d 277, 280 (2010); Carter v. Gordon, 28 Va.App. 133, 141, 502 S.E.2d 697, 700-01 (1998). “Our review is limited to determining (1) ‘[wjhether the agency acted in accordance with law;’ (2) ‘[wjhether the agency made a procedural error which was not harmless error;’ and (3) ‘[wjhether the agency had sufficient evidential support for its findings of fact.’ ” Avante at Roanoke, 56 Va.App. at 197, 692 S.E.2d at 280 (quoting Johnston-Willis, Ltd. v. Kenley, 6 Va.App. 231, 242, 369 S.E.2d 1, 7 (1988)).
The reviewing court must determine “ ‘whether substantial evidence exists in the agency record to support the
On appeal from an agency’s determination of law, “where the question involves an interpretation which is within the specialized competence of the agency and the agency has been entrusted with wide discretion by the General Assembly, the agency’s decision is entitled to special weight in the courtsf, and] ... ‘judicial interference is permissible only for relief against arbitrary or capricious action that constitutes a clear abuse of delegated discretion.’ ”
Evelyn v. Commonwealth, 46 Va.App. 618, 624, 621 S.E.2d 130, 133 (2005) (alteration in original) (quoting Johnston-Willis, 6 Va.App. at 244, 369 S.E.2d at 8). Generally, however, “[a]n agency’s legal interpretations of statutes is accorded no deference because we have long held that pure statutory interpretation is the prerogative of the judiciary, and thus, Virginia courts do not delegate that task to executive agencies.” Commonwealth ex rel. Va. State Water Control Bd. v. Blue Ridge Envtl. Def. League, Inc., 56 Va.App. 469, 481, 694 S.E.2d 290, 296 (2010) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted); see Virginia Dep’t of Health v. NRV Real Estate, LLC, 278 Va. 181, 185, 677 S.E.2d 276, 278 (2009) (“Although decisions by administrative agencies are given deference when they fall within an area of the agency’s specialized competence, issues of statutory interpretation fall outside those areas and are not entitled to deference on judicial review.”
The Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act
“Statutory interpretation is a question of law which we review de novo, and we determine the legislative intent from the words used in the statute, applying the plain meaning of the words unless they are ambiguous or would lead to an absurd result.” Wright v. Commonwealth, 278 Va. 754, 759, 685 S.E.2d 655, 657 (2009). The Virginia Supreme Court has long held that “when analyzing a statute, we must assume that ‘the legislature chose, with care, the words it used ... and we are bound by those words as we interpret the statute.’ ” City of Virginia Beach v. ESG Enters., 243 Va. 149, 153, 413 S.E.2d 642, 644 (1992) (quoting Barr v. Town and Country Properties, 240 Va. 292, 295, 396 S.E.2d 672, 674 (1990)). “ ‘Where the legislature has used words of a plain and definite import the courts cannot put upon them a construction which amounts to holding the legislature did not mean what it has actually expressed.’ ” Tazewell County Sch. Bd. v. Brown, 267 Va. 150, 162, 591 S.E.2d 671, 676-77 (2004) (citation omitted).
Further, “when a given controversy involves a number of related statutes, they should be read and construed together in order to give full meaning, force, and effect to each.” Ainslie v. Inman, 265 Va. 347, 353, 577 S.E.2d 246, 249 (2003) (citing Kole v. City of Chesapeake, 247 Va. 51, 56, 439 S.E.2d 405, 408 (1994)). “Proper construction seeks to harmonize the provisions of a statute both internally and in relation to other statutes.” Hulcher v. Commonwealth, 39 Va.App. 601, 605, 575 S.E.2d 579, 581 (2003). Indeed, “statutes are not to be considered as isolated fragments of law, but as a whole, or as parts of a great, connected homogenous system, or a simple and complete statutory arrangement.” Id. at 606, 575 S.E.2d at 581 (quoting Moreno v. Moreno, 24 Va.App. 190, 198, 480 S.E.2d 792, 796 (1997)) (internal quotation marks omitted).
The VICAA as currently enacted became effective on December 1, 2009. The main provision at issue in this case
As a restaurant, She-Sha must comply with the restaurant smoking ban, unless it falls within one of the six expressly stated exemptions to this section of the VICAA set forth in Code § 15.2-2825(A)(l)-(6):
1. Any place or operation that prepares or stores food for distribution to persons of the same business operation or of a related business operation for service to the public. Examples of such places or operations include the preparation or storage of food for catering services, pushcart operations, hotdog stands, and other mobile points of service;
2. Any outdoor area of a restaurant, with or without roof covering, at such times when such outdoor area is not enclosed in whole or in part by any screened walls, roll-up doors, windows or other seasonal or temporary enclosures;
*705 3. Any restaurants located on the premises of any manufacturer of tobacco products;
4. Any portion of a restaurant that is used exclusively for private functions, provided such functions are limited to those portions of the restaurant that meet the requirements of subdivision 5;
5. Any portion of a restaurant that is constructed in such a manner that the area where smoking may be permitted is (i) structurally separated from the portion of the restaurant in which smoking is prohibited and to which ingress and egress is through a door and (ii) separately vented to prevent the recirculation of air from such area to the area of the restaurant where smoking is prohibited. At least one public entrance to the restaurant shall be into an area of the restaurant where smoking is prohibited. For the purposes of the preceding sentence, nothing shall be construed to require the creation of an additional public entrance in cases where the only public entrance to a restaurant in existence as of December 1, 2009, is through an outdoor area described in subdivision 2; and
6. Any private club.
(Emphasis added).
Appellee argues for application of the maxim expressio unius est exclusio alterius, meaning “the expression of one thing is the exclusion of another.” This maxim is a fundamental principle of statutory construction which gives rise to the implication that “ ‘omitted terms were not intended to be included within the scope of the statute.’ ” See, e.g. Conkling v. Commonwealth, 45 Va.App. 518, 522, 612 S.E.2d 235, 237 (2005) (quoting Commonwealth v. Brown, 259 Va. 697, 704-05, 529 S.E.2d 96, 100 (2000)). Applying this principle to the statute at hand, the legislature included certain express exemptions to the restaurant smoking ban, implying that any restaurant that fails to meet the criteria for at least one of the stated exemptions is not exempt from compliance with the smoking ban.
Appellant argues that Code § 15.2-2821, governing applicability of the VICAA, takes precedence over the restaurant smoking ban contained in the subsequent provisions of the chapter and exempts She-Sha from compliance. Code § 15.2-2821 provides: “Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to: 1. Permit smoking where it is otherwise prohibited or restricted by other applicable provisions of law; or 2. Regulate smoking in retail tobacco stores, tobacco warehouses, or tobacco manufacturing facilities.”
For these reasons, we reject appellant’s arguments. Even though appellant recognizes that She-Sha can simultaneously be both a retail tobacco store and a restaurant, it seeks to be treated as one to the exclusion of the other, and thereby circumvent the statutory obligations associated with being a restaurant. The statutory provisions read in conjunction with each other show that the legislature did not intend an all-encompassing exemption for retail tobacco stores not operating exclusively as such. Even if it were to be determined that She-Sha is a retail tobacco store as contemplated by the VICAA, She-Sha is also a restaurant as defined by the statute, and She-Sha does not fall within any of the stated exemptions to the restaurant smoking ban. Without an applicable exemption, She-Sha must comply with the VICAA restaurant smoking ban, including posting the appropriate signs and prohibiting patrons from smoking.
Attorney’s Fees
Appellant requests it be granted attorneys’ fees and costs associated with the proceeding pursuant to Code § 2.2-4030. This section provides as follows:
*708 In any civil case brought under Article 5 (§ 2.2-4025 et seq.) of this chapter ... in which any person contests any agency action, such person shall be entitled to recover from that agency ... reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees if such person substantially prevails on the merits of the case and the agency’s position is not substantially justified, unless special circumstances would make an award unjust.
Code § 2.241030(A). Where a party does not substantially prevail on the merits of the case and the agency’s position is substantially justified, attorneys’ fees and costs will not be awarded.
For the reasons stated above, appellant did not substantially prevail on the merits of the case and the Department’s position was substantially justified. Appellant’s argument for exemption from the VICAA was rejected, and the Department’s case decision was upheld as a reasonable interpretation of the statutory provisions. In light of this outcome, it is inappropriate to award appellant attorneys’ fees and costs.
III. CONCLUSION
Because She-Sha is a restaurant as contemplated by the VICAA, it is subject to the restaurant smoking ban and must comply with its requirements. She-Sha does not fall within any of the stated exemptions to the restaurant smoking ban, and the VICAA does not provide an all-encompassing exemption for retail tobacco stores that simultaneously operate as a restaurant subject to the VICAA smoking ban. Interpreting the VICAA as such would render other provisions of the statute superfluous. For these reasons, the circuit court did not err in upholding the Department’s decision that She-Sha was not exempt from compliance with the VICAA.
Affirmed.
. A hookah is a “pipe for smoking that has a long flexible tube whereby the smoke is cooled by passing through water." Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 1088 (2002).
. Code § 15.2-2825(D) requires that restaurants subject to the smoking ban post "signs stating 'No Smoking’ or containing the international ‘No Smoking’ symbol ... clearly and conspicuously.”
. This "renewed request” is the only request contained in the agency record; the initial request was not included.
. "Bar or lounge area” is defined in the same code section to mean "any establishment or portion of an establishment devoted to the sale and service of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises where the sale or service of food or meals is incidental to the consumption of the alcoholic beverages.” Code § 15.2-2820. Even though SheSha is named "She-Sha Café and Hookah Lounge,” it does not fit within the Code’s definition of "lounge” because it is not devoted to the sale and service of alcoholic beverages.
. The statute does not define "retail tobacco store,'1 and no finding of fact was made as to whether She-Sha is a retail tobacco store as contemplated by the statute. Such a finding is unnecessary, however, in light of the trial court’s finding that She-Sha is a restaurant, and thus subject to the VICAA.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
In analyzing statutes, we employ principles of statutory construction to construe those statutes in a way that comports with the intent of the legislature. Indeed, the majority uses
The General Assembly passed the Indoor Clean Air Act in 1990 as Chapter 28 of Title 15.2 of the Virginia Code. The Act banned smoking in various government buildings and in some public areas. It also required certain restaurants to provide separate smoking and non-smoking areas. See Code §§ 15.2-2800 to -2810. In 2009, the General Assembly repealed Chapter 28 and replaced it with Chapter 28.2. The new Indoor Clean Air Act banned smoking in all restaurants and bars in the Commonwealth. See Code § 15.2-2825.
Nevertheless, the majority concludes that because She-Sha meets the definition of a restaurant, as defined in Code § 15.2-2820, the Indoor Clean Air Act applies to it regardless of whether it is primarily a retail tobacco store. This conclusion is based upon the assumption that the General Assembly did not intend to exempt from Code § 15.2-2825 those businesses mentioned in Code § 15.2-2821, if that business also operates as a restaurant. Specifically, the majority reasons that smoking is prohibited in any establishment that prepares or serves food to the public unless the establishment is specifically exempted by Code § 15.2~2825(A). In advancing its construction of the Act, the majority points to the specific exemption in Code § 15.2-2825(A) for “any restaurants located on the premises of any manufacturer of tobacco products.” The majority states that because a tobacco manufacturing facility is also specifically exempted in Code § 15.2-2821, the General Assembly intended for Code § 15.2-2825 to apply to any business listed in Code § 15.2-2821 unless there is a specific exemption in Code § 15.2-2825(A). The majority
This conclusion stands in stark contrast to the plain language of the relevant statutory provisions. Code § 15.2-2821 exempts “tobacco manufacturing facilities” from the application of the Indoor Clean Air Act. Code § 15.2-2825(A) exempts restaurants “located on the premises of any manufacturer of tobacco products” from the application of the Indoor Clean Air Act. “Tobacco manufacturing facilities” and “premises of any manufacturer of tobacco products,” as used in the Indoor Clean Air Act, are not synonymous; they describe completely different things.
“[w]e look to the plain meaning of the statutory language, and presume that the legislature chose, with care, the words it used when it enacted the relevant statute.” Moreover, when the General Assembly has used specific language in one instance, but omits that language or uses different language when addressing a similar subject elsewhere in the Code, we must presume that the difference in the choice of language was intentional.
Zinone v. Lee’s Crossing Homeowner’s Ass’n, 282 Va. 330, 337, 714 S.E.2d 922, 925 (2011) (quoting Addison v. Jurgelsky, 281 Va. 205, 208, 704 S.E.2d 402, 404 (2011)).
While the Indoor Clean Air Act does not provide a definition for “tobacco manufacturing facilities,” as used in Code § 15.2-2821, Code § 15.2-2820 does provide a definition for “facility,” as used in connection with other terms in the Indoor Clean Air
The Indoor Clean Air Act does not provide a definition for “premises of any manufacturer of tobacco products.” However, the key term in this phrase, for our purposes, is “premises.” The plain and ordinary meaning of premises is “a specified piece or tract of land with the structures on it,” or “the place of business of an enterprise or institution.” Webster’s, supra, at 1789. Thus, “premises of any manufacturer of
Accordingly, “premises,” as used in Code § 15.2-2825(A), has a different meaning than “facilities,” as used in Code § 15.2-2821. Code § 15.2-2821 exempts tobacco manufacturing facilities from the Indoor Clean Air Act. This means that any buildings or structures which facilitate the manufacture of tobacco are exempt from the Indoor Clean Air Act under Code § 15.2-2821. This exemption would apply to restaurants located within a tobacco manufacturing facility; it would not apply to restaurants located on the premises of a tobacco manufacturer. This is where Code § 15.2-2825(A) presumably fills the gap left by Code § 15.2-2821. Code § 15.2-2825(A) exempts “restaurants located on the premises of any manufacturer of tobacco products.” This means that a restaurant located on land with structures on it that the tobacco manufacturer uses as its place of business is exempt from the Indoor Clean Air Act under Code § 15.2-2825(A). Accordingly, a tobacco manufacturer could have a restaurant in its manufacturing facility, and that restaurant would be exempt from the Indoor Clean Air Act under Code § 15.2-2821. On the other hand, a tobacco manufacturer could have a stand-alone restaurant located on its premises, and that restaurant would be exempt from the Indoor Clean Air Act under Code § 15.2-2825(A).
The language of Code § 15.2-2821 is clear. If a business is a retail tobacco store, tobacco warehouse, or tobacco manufacturing facility, then it is exempt from all provisions of the Indoor Clean Air Act. Nothing in the Indoor Clean Air Act can be construed to regulate smoking in the business.
The Department of Health argues that a restaurant could avoid the requirements of the Indoor Clean Air Act by selling packets of cigarettes and labeling itself as a retail tobacco store. Indeed, a restaurant’s ability to masquerade as a retail tobacco store would undermine the General Assembly’s purpose in implementing the Indoor Clean Air Act. I am not unmindful of the Department’s public policy concerns. Accordingly, I would adopt a primary purpose test to determine
. The business model for She-Sha involves charging patrons for a flavored, wet tobacco which is heated by a burning coal and then smoked through a water-filled pipe known as a hookah. She-Sha sells tobacco and tobacco-related products as well as food and alcohol to its customers. However, it derives the majority of its revenue from the sale of tobacco. Tobacco and tobacco-related sales, e.g., hookah rentals, accounted for sixty-six to sixty-seven percent of She-Sha's revenue in the three months preceding the citations from the Department of Health. These sales figures have been consistent since September 2008. She-Sha has a license from the Virginia Department of Taxation classifying it as an "Other Tobacco Products Retailer.” As of February 2010, She-Sha has paid over $7,200 in taxes, as required for retail tobacco sales. While food and alcohol are also sold, the revenue from these sales is less than one-third of the total revenue.
. Code § 15.2-2825(A) provides various exemptions to the restaurant smoking ban. The only Code § 15.2-2825(A) exemption at issue in this
. I note that the premises of Philip Morris USA, a tobacco manufacturer in the Richmond area, is "[[located on a 200-acre site.” However, the actual tobacco manufacturing facilities on this premises consist of "six connected buildings that cover a total of 43 acres.” Offices & Facilities, Philip Morris USA, http://www.philipmorrisusa.com/en/cms/ Company/Corporate-Structure/ Offices_Facilities/default.aspx?src= top_nav (last visited February 19, 2013).
. This definition accords with the definition of "manufacturing facility” used in Code § 15.2-5000. Although, Code § 15.2-5000 is not applicable here, and it specifically states that the definition is to be used for bonding purposes only, it is nonetheless instructive in our quest for an acceptable definition of tobacco manufacturing facilities. Code § 15.2-5000 states,
"Manufacturing facility” means (i) any facility which is used in the manufacturing or production of tangible personal property, including the processing resulting in a change of condition of such property, (ii) any facility which is used in the creation or production of intangible property as described in § 197(d)(1)(C)(iii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, to be any patent, copyright, formula, process, design, pattern, knowhow, format, or other similar item, or (iii) any facility which is functionally related and subordinate to a manufacturing facility if such facility is located on the same site as the manufacturing facility.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- KEPA, INC., D/B/A She-Sha Café and Hookah Lounge v. VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published