Chapter 8.10
SMOKING POLLUTION CONTROL*
Sections:
8.10.010 Title.
8.10.020 Purpose and findings.
8.10.030 Definitions.
8.10.040 Application in city facilities.
8.10.050 Prohibition of smoking in public places.
8.10.060 Regulation of smoking in places of employment.
8.10.070 Optional smoking areas.
8.10.080 Posting of signs.
8.10.090 Tobacco samples prohibited.
8.10.100 Tobacco vending machines prohibited.
8.10.110 Enforcement.
8.10.120 Nonretaliation.
8.10.130 Violations and penalties.
*Prior legislation: Ord. 1182.
8.10.010 Title.
This chapter shall be known as the “smoking pollution control ordinance.” (Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)
8.10.020 Purpose and findings.
A. The City Council finds as follows:
1. Numerous studies have found that tobacco smoke is a major contributor to indoor air pollution; and
2. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that secondhand smoke is a Class A carcinogen for which there is no safe exposure level; and
3. Reliable studies have shown that breathing secondhand smoke is a particular health hazard for certain population groups, including children, elderly people, individuals with cardiovascular disease, and individuals with impaired respiratory function, including asthmatics and those with obstructive airway disease; and
4. Health hazards induced by breathing secondhand smoke include lung cancer, respiratory infection, decreased exercise tolerance, decreased respiratory function, bronchoconstriction, and bronchospasm; and
5. Nonsmokers with allergies, respiratory diseases and those who suffer other ill effects of breathing secondhand smoke may experience a loss of job productivity or may be forced to take periodic sick leave because of adverse reactions to same; and
6. The simple separation of smokers and nonsmokers within the same airspace may reduce, but does not eliminate, the exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke; and
7. Numerous studies have shown that a majority of both nonsmokers and smokers desire to have restrictions on smoking in public places and places of employment.
B. The City Council finds and declares that the purposes of this chapter are:
1. To protect the public health and welfare by prohibiting smoking in public places and in places of employment; and
2. To help people to avoid becoming addicted, and to help people who wish to quit smoking, by limiting their unintentional exposure to smoking, tobacco products and inducements to smoke; and
3. To strike a reasonable balance between the needs of smokers and the need of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air, and to recognize that, where these needs conflict, the need to breathe smoke-free air shall have priority; and
4. To encourage all businesses and places of employment, which are exempt from the provisions of this chapter, to voluntarily become smoke-free as soon as practicable. (Ord. 2065 § 1(A), 2018; Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)
8.10.030 Definitions.
The following words and phrases, whenever used in this chapter, shall be construed as defined in this section:
A. “Bar” means an area within, part of or associated with a restaurant, which is not a freestanding bar as defined in subsection I of this section, and which is devoted to the serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption by guests on the premises and in which serving food and providing coin-operated amusement devices is only incidental to the consumption of such beverages.
B. “Business” means any sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation or other business entity formed for profit-making purposes, including retail establishments where goods or services are sold, as well as professional corporations and other entities where legal, medical, dental, engineering, architectural, or other professional services are delivered.
C. “Designated smoking room” means a room, with a floor area no greater than 25 percent of the total floor area of the establishment in which it is located, that has been designated as a smoking area, and that has been posted with the appropriate signs under LMC 8.10.080. The following requirements apply to a designated smoking room:
1. The room must have a separate heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC) designed such that none of the air from the room will be recirculated into other areas of the building.
2. The room shall be completely separated from the remainder of the building by solid partitions or glazing without openings other than doors, and all doors leading to the room shall be self-closing. The doors shall be provided with a gasket so installed as to provide a seal where the door meets the stop on both sides and across the top.
3. Air from the room must be directly vented to the outside by an exhaust fan. Air from the smoking room must not be recirculated to other parts of the building. Pressure in the room must be less than in the surrounding area to make sure smoke does not drift to surrounding spaces.
4. The ventilation system must provide the smoking room with 60 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of supply air per smoker.
5. Nonsmokers should not have to use the smoking room for any purpose. The smoking room must be located in a nonwork area where no one, as part of his or her work responsibilities, is required to enter during the time it is used as a designated smoking room.
D. “Dining area” means any area containing a counter or tables where meals are served.
E. “Downtown nonsmoking area” means the area of First Street, up to the face of building, between Maple and L Streets including public parks, plazas, open spaces and associated pathways that provide ingress and egress to public parks, plazas, and open spaces; J and K Streets, up to the face of building, from First Street to Second Street; the parking structure on Railroad Avenue and the transit center on Railroad Avenue.
F. “Employee” means any person who is employed in consideration for direct or indirect monetary wages or profit, and any person who volunteers services for a nonprofit entity or public agency.
G. “Employer” means any person, partnership, corporation or nonprofit entity, including a municipal corporation or other public agency, which employs one or more persons.
H. “Enclosed” means closed in by a roof and walls on all sides with appropriate openings for ingress and egress.
I. “Freestanding bar” means an area which is devoted to the serving of alcoholic beverages and in which the service of food is only incidental to the consumption of such beverages, and which meets the following requirements if there are other uses within the same building:
1. The bar must have a separate heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC) designed such that none of the air from the bar will be recirculated into other areas of the building.
2. The bar shall be completely separated from the remainder of the building by solid partitions or glazing without openings other than doors, and all doors leading to the bar shall be self-closing. The doors shall be provided with a gasket so installed as to provide a seal where the door meets the stop on both sides and across the top.
3. Air from the bar must be directly exhausted to the outside by an exhaust fan. Air from the bar must not be recirculated to other parts of the building. Pressure in the room must be less than in the surrounding area to make sure smoke does not drift to surrounding spaces.
4. The ventilation system must provide the smoking room with 60 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of supply air per smoker.
J. “Park” means any playground, plaza, picnic area, golf course, trail or other recreational area open to the general public for active or passive recreational or leisure purposes and operated by a public agency.
K. “Place of employment” means any area under the control of a public or private employer where employees normally frequent during the course of employment, including, but not limited to, work areas, employee lounges and restrooms, conference rooms and classrooms, cafeterias and hallways.
L. “Pool vehicle” means an automobile, truck or van, owned, leased or otherwise controlled by an employer, which is available, by advance request, reservation or otherwise, for the use in the course of employment of any employee or employees.
M. “Public place” means any area to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted, including, but not limited to, banks, educational facilities, health facilities, public transportation facilities, reception areas, restaurants, retail food production and marketing establishments, retail service establishments, retail stores, theaters and waiting rooms.
N. “Reasonable distance” means a distance of 20 feet, unless otherwise required by law, in any direction from an area in which smoking is prohibited. For enclosed areas and buildings where smoking is prohibited, distances shall be measured from any exit, entrance, or operable window.
O. “Restaurant” means any coffee shop, cafeteria, tavern, sandwich stand, soda fountain, private or public school cafeteria, and any other eating establishment, organization, club, boardinghouse, or guest house, which gives or offers food for sale to the public, guests, patrons or employees.
P. “Retail tobacco store” means a retail store utilized primarily for the sale of tobacco or smoking products and accessories.
Q. “Service line” means any line at which one or more persons are waiting for or receiving service of any kind, whether or not such service includes the exchange of money.
R. “Smoking” means engaging in an act that generates and releases smoke, gases, particulate matter, vapors, or similar byproducts into the air through the combustion, operation, vaporization, or other similar process, of a lighted pipe, lighted cigar, lighted cigarette, lighted hookah pipe, the operation of an electronic cigarette, or other similar device for which the intended purpose is human inhalation.
S. “Sports arena” means bowling centers, sports pavilions, gymnasiums, health spas, boxing arenas, swimming pools, roller and ice rinks and other similar places where members of the public assemble to engage in physical exercise, participate in athletic competition or witness sports events. (Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)
8.10.040 Application in city facilities.
Notwithstanding LMC 8.10.070, smoking shall be prohibited in all city vehicles, buildings and facilities, including outdoor dining areas and freestanding bars. (Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)
8.10.050 Prohibition of smoking in public places.
A. Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed public places within the City, including the following:
1. Elevators and restrooms;
2. Buses, taxicabs and other means of public transit, and ticket, boarding and waiting areas of public transit depots;
3. Service lines;
4. Retail stores, except retail tobacco stores;
5. Retail food marketing establishments, including grocery stores and supermarkets;
6. All areas available to and customarily used by the general public in all businesses, nonprofit entities and public agencies patronized by the public, including, but not limited to, business offices, banks, hotels and motels, except as provided in subsection (A)(15) of this section;
7. Restaurants, including bars and banquet rooms in, open to or directly accessible from restaurants and outdoor dining areas approved and permitted by the City;
8. Bars;
9. Bingo parlors, card clubs, amusement arcades, and similar places of amusement and recreation;
10. Any building not open to the sky which is used primarily for exhibiting any motion picture, stage drama, lecture, musical recital, or other similar performance, except to the extent that smoking is part of any such production;
11. Sports arenas and convention halls;
12. Stadiums, amphitheaters and similar places of assembly which are open to the sky;
13. Health and residential and day care facilities, including, but not limited to, nursing homes, adult care facilities, child care facilities including family day care homes, hospitals, clinics, physical therapy facilities, doctors’ offices and dentists’ offices;
14. Polling places;
15. Private hotel and motel rooms rented to guests, except that up to 25 percent of such rooms may be designated for smoking guests, if the rooms designated as smoking are served by a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC) that does not serve any of the rooms designated as nonsmoking, and that is designed such that none of the air from the smoking rooms will be recirculated into other areas of the building;
16. Private residences, during the hours when engaged in business as a family day care home or health facility;
17. Enclosed lobbies, hallways and other enclosed common areas in apartment buildings, including condominiums, in retirement facilities, and in other multiple-family residential facilities.
B. Smoking shall be prohibited in the following outdoor public places within the City, including the following:
1. Downtown nonsmoking area;
2. Parks;
3. Approved outdoor dining areas associated with a restaurant, temporary or special event, or outdoor market including mobile food vendors;
4. All public transportation facilities, including designated transit stops;
5. Within a reasonable distance of any area where smoking is prohibited as defined in this chapter.
C. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any owner, operator, manager or other person who controls any establishment described in this section may declare that entire establishment as a nonsmoking establishment. (Ord. 2065 § 1(A), 2018; Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)
8.10.060 Regulation of smoking in places of employment.
A. Every employer shall provide a smoke-free work place for all employees, except in those areas designated in LMC 8.10.070 or as otherwise exempt pursuant to California Labor Code Section 6404.5(e).
B. Every employer shall post “No Smoking” or “Smoke Free” signs in accordance with LMC 8.10.080.
C. Smoking outside of the work building shall occur at a reasonable distance from the building to ensure that smoke does not enter the building through doors and windows and affect occupants therein, or those entering or leaving the building.
D. Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed facilities and places of employment (except in designated smoking rooms as defined by LMC 8.10.030(C)). This includes common work areas, auditoriums, classrooms, conference and meeting rooms, private offices, elevators, hallways, medical facilities, cafeterias, employee lounges, stairs, restrooms, vehicles, and all other enclosed facilities.
E. Every employer shall communicate this smoking policy to all employees within three weeks of its adoption, and shall communicate the policy to a new employee upon hiring.
F. Every employer shall supply a written copy of the smoking policy upon request to any employee or prospective employee. (Ord. 2082 § 1(F), 2019; Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)
8.10.070 Optional smoking areas.
A. Notwithstanding LMC 8.10.050 and 8.10.060 to the contrary, the following areas shall not be subject to the smoking restrictions of this chapter:
1. Private residences except during the hours when engaged in business as a family day care home or a health care facility;
2. Retail tobacco stores (as defined by LMC 8.10.030(P));
3. Outdoor areas, a reasonable distance from any area where smoking is prohibited in this chapter;
4. Freestanding bars (as defined by LMC 8.10.030(I));
5. Designated smoking rooms (as defined by LMC 8.10.030(C)).
B. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any owner, operator, manager or other person who controls any establishment described in this section may declare that entire establishment as a nonsmoking establishment. (Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)
8.10.080 Posting of signs.
A. Where signs are required by this section, the owner, operator, manager or other person having control of a building shall conspicuously post in such building “Smoking” and “No Smoking” signs, whichever are appropriate, with letters of not less than three inches in height, or the international “Smoking” or “No Smoking” symbol (consisting of a pictorial representation or enclosed in a red circle with a red bar across it for “No Smoking”), or the same information in another format approved by City Manager.
B. Every theater owner, manager or operator shall conspicuously post signs in the lobby stating that smoking is prohibited within the theater or auditorium.
C. The owner, operator, manager or other person having control of a restaurant or other public place shall conspicuously post in, or at every entrance of, every restaurant or other public place, including all places described in LMC 8.10.050 when in or adjacent to a building, “No Smoking” signs and “Smoking” signs, when appropriate.
D. The owner, operator, manager or other person having control of every bar shall conspicuously post at every entrance of every bar, adjacent to any warning sign required under the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65), a “No Smoking” sign.
E. The owner, operator, manager or other person having control of the area shall remove all ash trays in any area designated nonsmoking. (Ord. 2065 § 1(A), 2018; Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)
8.10.090 Tobacco samples prohibited.
No person shall knowingly distribute or furnish without charge, or cause to be furnished without charge to the general public, cigarettes or other tobacco products, or coupons for cigarettes or other tobacco products, at any event open to the public, or in any public place, including, but not limited to, any right-of-way, mall or shopping center, park, or playground, except in retail tobacco stores. (Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)
8.10.100 Tobacco vending machines prohibited.
No cigarette or other tobacco product may be sold, offered for sale, or distributed by or from a vending machine or other appliance, or any other device designed or used for vending purposes. (Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)
8.10.110 Enforcement.
The City Manager, or his or her designee, shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter. (Ord. 2065 § 1(A), 2018; Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)
8.10.120 Nonretaliation.
No person or employer shall discharge, refuse to hire, or in any manner retaliate against any employee or applicant for employment because such employee or applicant exercises any rights afforded by this chapter. (Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)
8.10.130 Violations and penalties.
A. It shall be unlawful for any person who owns, manages, operates or otherwise controls the use of any premises subject to this chapter to fail to ensure compliance with its provisions.
B. It is unlawful for any person to smoke in any area designated nonsmoking under the provisions of this chapter.
C. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of an infraction. If charged as an infraction, the penalty upon conviction of such person shall be a fine as set forth in LMC 1.16.010. (Ord. 2022 § 1 (Exh. A), 2015; Ord. 1415 § 1, 1994)