City Council to Consider Expanding Smoking Regulations to Include Multi-Unit Residences

The Mill Valley City Council will consider expanding smoking regulations to include apartments, condominiums and townhouses at their upcoming meeting on Monday, October 5, 2015. The Council will consider conducting a first reading of the ordinance, which, if approved, will go into effect November 18, 2015.

The Mill Valley City Council has identified the health and safety of residents as one of its Core Values. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found secondhand smoke to be a risk to public health, and classified secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen, the most dangerous class of carcinogen. Secondhand smoke exposure poses health threats to adults and children living in Multi-Unit Residences as it can travel from other units and common areas through doorways, windows, ventilation systems and cracks between units.

At their strategic planning session in February, Councilmembers identified the expansion of smoking regulations to include Multi-Unit Residences as one of their priority projects for the year.

The current smoking ordinance was updated in 2012 and prohibits smoking in indoor spaces as well as all outdoor spaces where food and drink are served, service areas (such as ATMs) and a 20 foot buffer zone around windows, doors and other areas where smoking is prohibited. The 2012 update also banned smoking on any City-owned property, park, playground, and any area open to the public used for outdoor events, such as sporting events, farmer’s markets and parades.

The Council has held two public hearings (October 6, 2014 and April 6, 2015) and two public workshops (August 6, 2015) on the topic. At the public hearings, Council heard input from residents, discussed the issues raised by expanded, more restrictive smoking regulations and examined the options readily available for amendment to our current Municipal Code provisions.

The proposed ordinance under consideration would restrict smoking in all new and existing individual dwelling spaces of Multi-Unit Residences, such as apartments, condominiums and townhouses, which includes private balconies, porches and decks. The ordinance would ban smoking in all common areas such as lobbies, community rooms, gym facilities, and laundry rooms, and it would provide a landlord or members of a homeowner’s association the option to designate a portion of an outdoor common area as a smoking area. The proposed ordinance would create non-smoking buffer zones around areas where smoking is prohibited, would declare smoke to be a nuisance (which would allow the City or a private individual to use nuisance abatement laws). The proposed ordinance would also prohibit smoking in hotel and motel rooms and includes the use of e-cigarettes in its restrictions.

The City is working with the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Alcohol, Drug and Tobacco Programs to provide residents, property owners and property managers resources for education and enforcement. The Smoke Free Marin website offers phone numbers for assistance and an online report form. They offer assistance to residents and property owners/managers with signage, letters, advice, template rental lease agreements, and articles to help with the transition to 100% smoke-free housing. Questions can be directed to the Tobacco Related Disease Control Program office at (415) 473-3020.

Learn more:

• Download the Staff Report and Draft Ordinance
• Download the entire Staff Report and all the attachments (Go to Item 8)
• Visit the FAQ page

Your input is welcome:

• Attend the meeting on Monday, October 5, 2015 at 7:00 pm, City Hall, 26 Corte Madera Ave.
• Watch the webcast or cablecast.
• Send an eComment. eComments are accepted during the LIVE (only) broadcast.
• Send written correspondence to: Linn Walsh, Assistant to the City Manager, 26 Corte Madera Ave. Mill Valley, CA 94941 or email lwalsh@cityofmillvalley.org.