You do realize that a properly functioning WSM will have a thin stream of blue smoke coming out of it much of the time, right?
I get a lot of smoke when first starting the charcoal, but that's mostly because I light it with newspaper and the ink has a tendency to smoke a lot when it's burning. With the electric start chimney you shouldn't get much smoke when starting. There's another thread here about using a propane torch to get the charcoal started. I've not tried that on a larger scale but I'd think the smoke from that would be minimal.
All that said, there will most definitely be a smoke smell and you will see a small plume of smoke coming from the smoker. On mine it usually dissipates to invisibility within a couple feet. Anyone downwind, though, will smell the smoke. My neighbors comment all the time when I'm using mine. No complaints about the smoke, just that the smell makes them very hungry.
