Temecula City Zoning Code
CHAPTER 17
30 SMOKING IN MULTI-UNIT RESIDENCES
§ 17.30.010 Findings and intent.
The City Council finds, determines, and declares that:
A.
Tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke cause death and disease and impose great social and economic costs; and
B.
More than four hundred forty thousand people die in the United States from tobacco-related diseases every year, making it the nation's leading cause of preventable death; and
C.
The World Health Organization estimates that by 2030, tobacco will account for ten million deaths per year, making it the greatest cause of death worldwide; and
D.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has found secondhand smoke to be a risk to public health and has classified secondhand smoke as a group A carcinogen, the most dangerous class of carcinogen; and
E.
Secondhand smoke is responsible for an estimated thirty-eight thousand deaths among non-smokers each year in the United States, which includes three thousand lung cancer deaths and thirty-five thousand deaths due to heart disease; and
F.
Eighty-seven and nine-tenths percent of non-smokers showed detectable levels of cotinine (a metabolite of nicotine) in their blood, the most likely source of which is secondhand smoke exposure; and
G.
Secondhand smoke exposure adversely affects fetal growth with elevated risk of low birth weight and increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in infants of mothers who smoke; and
H.
Secondhand smoke exposure causes as many as three hundred thousand children in the United States under the age of eighteen months to suffer lower respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis; exacerbates childhood asthma; and increases the risk of acute, chronic, middle-ear infections in children; and
I.
The total cost of smoking in California was estimated as four hundred seventy-five dollars per resident or three thousand three hundred thirty-one dollars per smoker per year, for a total of nearly fifteen billion eight hundred million dollars in smoking-related costs in 1999 alone; and
J.
Cigarettes, cigars, pipes and other smoking materials are the leading cause of fire deaths in the United States, causing an estimated thirty-one thousand two hundred structure fires and eight hundred thirty deaths in 2001; and
K.
Most Californians do not smoke and a majority favor limitations on smoking in multi-unit residences, as evidenced by the facts that eighty-four percent of Californians are nonsmokers; seventy percent of Californians surveyed approve of apartment complexes requiring at least half of rental units be nonsmoking; and sixty-seven percent of Californians surveyed favor limiting smoking in outdoor common areas of apartment buildings; and
L.
Secondhand smoke can seep under doorways and through wall cracks;
M.
There is no Constitutional right to smoke; and
N.
State law prohibits smoking in virtually all indoor places of employment reflecting the state policy to protect against the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke; and
O.
California law declares that anything that is injurious to health or obstructs the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property is an nuisance; and
P.
Local governments have broad latitude to declare nuisances and are not constrained by prior definitions of nuisance; and
Q.
It is the intent of the city council of the city of Temecula in enacting the ordinance codified in this chapter, to provide for the public health, safety, and welfare by discouraging the inherently dangerous behavior of smoking around non-tobacco users; by protecting children from exposure to smoking where they live and play; and by protecting the public from nonconsensual exposure to secondhand smoke in and around their homes; and
R.
It is the intent of the city council of the city of Temecula to supplement applicable state and federal laws pertaining to smoking and not to duplicate, contradict, or frustrate such laws. This chapter shall be construed consistently with that intention.
(Ord. 07-04 § 1)
§ 17.30.020 Definitions.
For the purposes of this Chapter the following definitions shall govern unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
means any person who owns real property that is leased as residential property, lets residential property, or manages such property, except that landlord does not include sublessors.
means a premises leased as residential property and that contains two or more units, none of which are occupied by a landlord of the premises.
means any indoor or outdoor area of a mufti-unit residence accessible to and usable by residents of different units; including but not limited to halls and paths, lobbies, laundry rooms, common cooking areas, outdoor eating areas, play areas, swimming pools and parking areas.
means any natural person, partnership, cooperative association. corporation, personal representative, receiver, trustee, assignee or any other legal entity.
means a piece of land and any improvements thereon such as is usually described in a deed, deed of trust or mortgage, and includes legally separate but contiguous pieces of land that are owned by the same natural person or by legal persons under common control.
means a distance of twenty-five feet in any direction from an area in which smoking is prohibited. This distance should be reasonably sufficient to make it unlikely that secondhand smoke will enter nonsmoking areas.
means holding or possessing a lighted tobacco product or paraphernalia (including but not limited to, a lighted pipe, lighted hookah pipe, lighted cigar, or lighted cigarette of any kind), or any other lighted weed or plant the smoke of which is commonly inhaled, or the lighting of a tobacco product, tobacco paraphernalia, or any other weed or plant the smoke of which is commonly inhaled.
means either a dwelling space consisting of essentially complete independent living facilities for one or more persons, including, for example, permanent provisions for living and sleeping, and any private outdoor spaces like balconies and patios; or senior citizen housing and single room occupancy hotels, as defined in California Health and Safety Code Section 50519(b)(1), even where lacking private cooking facilities or private plumbing facilities. Unit does not include lodging in a hotel or motel that meets the requirements set forth in California Civil Code Section 1940(b)(2).
(Ord. 07-04 § 1; Ord. 07-10 § 3; Ord. 07-11 § 3)
§ 17.30.030 No-smoking common areas, designated smoking areas.
A.
Smoking is prohibited in all multi-unit residence common areas except that a landlord may designate a portion of the outdoor area of premises as a smoking area as provided in this section;
B.
Designated smoking areas shall:
1.
Be located within a reasonable distance from any indoor area where smoking is prohibited;
2.
Not include, and must be a reasonable distance from, outdoor areas primarily used by children including, but not limited to, areas improved or designated for play or swimming;
3.
Be no more than twenty-five percent of the total outdoor area of the premises for which it is designated;
4.
Have a perimeter that is clearly marked with conspicuous signs;
5.
Not overlap with any area in which smoking is otherwise prohibited by this chapter or other provisions of this code, state law or federal law.
(Ord. 07-04 § 1)
§ 17.30.040 Smoke-free buffer zones.
Smoking is prohibited on the premises of a multi-unit residence within a reasonable distance of any entrance, opening, or other vent into an enclosed area of a multi-unit residence in which smoking is prohibited by this chapter, other provisions of this code, state law, or federal law. For example, and without limitation, smoking on balconies, porches or patios within a reasonable distance of a window or door of a nonsmoking unit is prohibited. This provision does not apply inside a designated smoking unit pursuant to Section 17.30.050 of this chapter.
(Ord. 07-04 § 1)
§ 17.30.050 Nonsmoking units required in multi-unit residences.
A.
New Multi-Unit Residences.
In every multi-unit residence first occupied by a resident or tenant more than six months after the effective date of this the ordinance codified in this chapter and containing ten or more units, at least twenty-five percent of the units (including private outdoor spaces associated with such units, such as balconies, patios and decks), shall be designated as nonsmoking units. Notwithstanding this requirement, the landlord may choose to designate all units as nonsmoking. Landlords shall submit to the city a floor plan identifying the relative position of smoking and nonsmoking units as well as the location of any designated smoking areas within six months of the effective date of this chapter. Nonsmoking units must be grouped together (e.g., horizontally and/or vertically) and physically separated from smoking units to the maximum extent practicable. If a multi-unit residence is comprised of multiple buildings, then non-smoking units shall be located together in a separate building to the maximum extent practicable.
B.
Existing Multi-Unit Residences
1.
In every multi-unit residence currently and previously occupied on the effective date of said ordinance, not subject to subsection A of this section, and containing ten or more units, at least twenty-five percent of the units (including private outdoor spaces associated with such units, such as balconies, patios and decks), must be designated as nonsmoking units within five years of the effective date of said ordinance. Notwithstanding this requirement, the landlord may choose to designate all units as nonsmoking. Landlords shall submit to the city a floor plan identifying the relative position of smoking and nonsmoking units as well as the location of any designated smoking areas within one year of the effective date of said ordinance. Nonsmoking units must be grouped together (e.g., horizontally and/or vertically) and physically separated from smoking units to the maximum extent practicable. If a multi-unit residence is comprised of multiple buildings, then nonsmoking units shall be located together in a separate building to the maximum extent practicable.
2.
A unit designated nonsmoking by action of the landlord or by the force of this chapter shall not be subject to the smoking restrictions in subsection (B)(1) of this section while the legal tenant(s) in occupancy on the effective date of said ordinance continuously lease(s) the unit.
3.
A landlord of any multi-unit residence not dedicated to senior citizen housing may apply for up to three extensions of the time to comply with the requirement in subsection (B)(1) of this section that the at least twenty-five percent of the units be designated as nonsmoking units. Each extension shall be for no more than one year. Application for an extension shall be made before the expiration of the time to comply and shall be granted if reasonably necessary to obtain compliance with subsection (B)(1) of this section.
C.
Smoking is prohibited in nonsmoking units in multi-unit residences.
(Ord. 07-04 § 1)
§ 17.30.060 Disclosure of nonsmoking units by landlord.
Every landlord shall maintain a current list of designated nonsmoking units and a floor plan identifying the relative position of smoking and nonsmoking units as well as the location of any designated smoking areas.
The landlord shall provide a copy of the current list and the floor plan to the city and to every tenant.
(Ord. 07-04 § 1)
§ 17.30.070 Prohibitions and duties generally.
A.
No person shall smoke or knowingly permit smoking in an area of the premises under his or her legal or de facto control in which smoking is prohibited by a lease or agreement term, by this chapter, this code, or any other state or federal law; provided, however, that this prohibition does not apply to a person who is already compelled to act under state or federal law.
B.
No person shall knowingly permit the presence or placement of ash trays, cans, or other receptacles within multi-unit residence common areas under his or her legal or de facto control in which smoking is prohibited by this chapter, this code, or any other state or federal law, including, for example and without limitation, within a reasonable distance of any nonsmoking area.
C.
"No Smoking" signs, with letters of no less than one inch in height or the international "No Smoking" symbol (consisting of a pictorial representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a red circle crossed by a red bar) shall be clearly and conspicuously posted and maintained by the landlord in every place on the premises in which smoking is prohibited by this chapter or by the landlord, except that signs are not required inside units. Signs must be sufficient to make areas where smoking is prohibited obvious to a reasonable person.
(Ord. 07-04 § 1)
§ 17.30.080 Medical marijuana.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, smoking marijuana for medical purposes as permitted by California Health and Safety Code Sections 11362.7 et seq. in any unit of a multi-unit residence is not prohibited by this chapter. Notwithstanding the forgoing, such use of marijuana may be prohibited by other provisions of this code, state law, or federal law.
(Ord. 07-04 § 1)
§ 17.30.090 Enforcement.
The remedies provided by this chapter are cumulative and in addition to any other remedies available at law or in equity.
B.
No person shall intimidate, harass, or otherwise retaliate against any person who seeks to attain compliance with this chapter. Moreover, no person shall intentionally or recklessly expose another person to secondhand smoke in response to that person's effort to achieve compliance with this chapter.
C.
Causing, permitting, aiding, abetting, or concealing a violation of any provision of this chapter is prohibited.
D.
A violation of this chapter is declared to be a public nuisance.
E.
In addition to other remedies provided by this chapter or otherwise available at law or in equity, any violation of this chapter may be remedied by a civil action brought by the city, including, without limitation, administrative or judicial nuisance abatement proceedings, civil or criminal code enforcement proceedings, and suits for injunctive relief.
(Ord. 07-04 § 1)