Santa Monica joined several other cities, many in California, last month by approving a ban on smoking in common areas of multi-unit residential buildings. The law makes it a criminal infraction to smoke in outdoor common areas, including patios, garden and pool areas and parking lots. Victims of secondhand smoke can file a civil action in court to get an injunction or collect as much as $100 in damages. The law requires a resident to try to reach a solution with the smoker before filing a civil action, including providing written notice of the law and a written request to stop smoking in the common areas. The ordinance includes condominiums and does not grandfather smoking rights for existing rent control residents.
Meanwhile, one of the nation’s most restrictive smoke-free laws went into effect on January 9 in Belmont, CA, a city approximately 20 miles south of San Francisco, after a 14-month grace period to allow apartments to comply. That law bans smoking in any apartment that shares a floor or ceiling with another, including condominiums. The 25,000-person city now only allows smoking in detached houses and yards, streets, some sidewalks and designated smoking areas outside. It was enacted as a result of a grassroots campaign by the residents of a federally subsidized retirement home who complained that secondhand smoke was adversely affecting their health.
A few private apartment firms have imposed smoking bans in their portfolios voluntarily. Guardian Management, LLC implemented the largest ban last January. The firm prohibits smoking inside apartments and in common areas as well as within 25 feet of any building on its properties. In a recent survey of residents at 17 of Guardian’s federally subsidized properties, nearly three quarters said they were very or somewhat happy with the ban. Even among smokers, 30 percent said they were somewhat happy with the policy. More information on smoke-free housing is available on NMHC’s web site at www.nmhc.org/goto/SmokeFree.