Lompoc City Council Agenda Item

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Lompoc City Council Agenda Item City Council Meeting Date: June 3, 2014 TO: FROM: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members Larry Ralston, Chief of Police lralston@ci.lompoc.ca.us Joseph W.

1 Lompoc City Council Agenda Item City Council Meeting Date: June 3, 2014 TO: FROM: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members Larry Ralston, Chief of Police Joseph W. Pannone, City Attorney SUBJECT: Smoking Prohibition in Recreational Areas; Introduction of Ordinance No. 1604(14) Recommendation: Staff recommends the City Council introduce Ordinance No. 1604(14), by first reading, to prohibit smoking in recreational areas and update the City s current regulations on smoking in enclosed places and places of employment. Background/Discussion: The Police Department and the City Attorney s Office worked together to research and draft an ordinance to regulate smoking in City parks and other public recreational facilities. After researching the relevant State law and reviewing the City s current smoking regulations, the proposed ordinance was prepared to amend Chapter 8.16 (Regulation of Smoking) of the City of Lompoc Municipal Code (Proposed Ordinance) to do both of the following: add new regulations related to smoking in outdoor recreational areas in the City, and revise the existing regulations to bring the City s smoking regulations up to date with the current State smoking laws. (See Attachment 1 for proposed changes and Attachment 2 for the final version.) A. City s Current Smoking Regulations Currently, the City s Smoking Regulations, found in Chapter 8.16 of the Lompoc Municipal Code (LMC), prohibit smoking in enclosed areas that are generally held open to the public, including retail stores, restaurants, City buildings, public schools, and museums. (LMC ) Additionally, places of employment are required to adopt written smoking policies and provide smoke-free areas for nonsmokers to the maximum extent possible. (LMC ) The City s smoking regulations make express exceptions for private residences, bars, hotel and motel rooms, tobacco shops, restaurants and hotel conference rooms being used for private functions.

2 Page 2 of 7 (LMC ) The LMC has no regulations for smoking outdoors, including in City parks and other recreational facilities. B. The Threat from Outdoor Secondhand Smoke Studies have shown that exposure to secondhand smoke is unhealthy, even when outdoors. Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals and compounds, including hundreds that are toxic and at least 69 that cause cancer. 1 According to the U.S. Surgeon General, there is no level of exposure to secondhand smoke that does not create a health risk. 2 Secondhand smoke has been shown to cause nearly 46,000 deaths every year in the United States. 3 Studies have found that levels of secondhand smoke in outdoor areas can be equal to amounts found inside where smoking is allowed. 4 Exposure to concentrated amounts of secondhand smoke outdoors can cause respiratory irritation and may trigger asthma attacks. 5 To completely avoid exposure to secondhand smoke in an outdoor area, a person may have to move as far as 25 feet from the person who is smoking equivalent to the width of a two-lane road. 6 Notably, secondhand smoke can be more dangerous to children who may use the City s parks. According to the American Lung Association, children are especially sensitive to the dangers of secondhand smoke: 7 Children who breathe secondhand smoke are more likely to develop asthma; 1 US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2010, p. 17. Available at: 2 Id. at 9. 3 US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tobacco Use: Targeting the Nation s Leading Killer. 2011, p. 2. Available at: 4 Klepeis NE, Ott WR, and Switzer P. Real-Time Monitoring of Outdoor Environmental Tobacco Smoke Concentrations: A Pilot Study. Stanford, CA: Stanford University, 2004, p. 80, 87. Available at: See also Klepeis NE, Ott WR and Switzer P. Real-Time Measurement of Outdoor Tobacco Smoke Particles. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 57: , Available at: Repace JL. Benefits of Smoke-Free Regulations in Outdoor Settings: Beaches, Golf Courses, Parks, Patios, and in Motor Vehicles. William Mitchell Law Review, 34(4): , Available at: 5 TobaccoSmoke.org, Is there really a health basis for outdoor smoking bans? 6 Repace, supra note 9, at Found at:

3 Page 3 of 7 Children who have asthma and who breathe secondhand smoke have more asthma attacks; Children who breathe secondhand smoke are more likely to suffer from pneumonia, bronchitis, and other lung diseases; Secondhand smoke causes irritation of the eyes, nose and throat; Children who breathe secondhand smoke have more ear infections; There are an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 cases every year of infections in infants and children under 18 months of age who breathe secondhand smoke. Additionally, smoke from marijuana may pose a threat to those who inhale secondhand smoke. According to the American Lung Association, marijuana smoke contains a greater amount of carcinogens than tobacco smoke. The American Lung Association recommends that those who use marijuana for medical purposes should do so in consultation with their doctor and should consider administration by means other than smoking. 8 Finally, cigarette butts can be a significant and persistent source of litter and danger to the public and children. According to the Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Chapter: 9 An estimated 4.95 trillion cigarette butts are disposed of in our environment annually worldwide; Cigarette butts leach toxins when wet; Litter clean up costs the U.S. over $11 billion annually, cigarette butts represent an estimated 32% of that litter; Cigarette butts are composed of cellulose acetate, a non-biodegradable plastic, which can take up to 25 years to decompose; Littered cigarette butts pose a significant fire threat. In 2009, American poison control centers received nearly 8,000 reports of children poisoned by ingestion of cigarettes, cigarette butts, and other tobacco products. 10 C. State Law and Outdoor Smoking Regulations There are a number of State laws prohibiting smoking in enclosed places. 11 The only state laws prohibiting outdoor smoking are laws that prohibit smoking within 25 feet of any playground or tot lot sandbox area and within 20 feet of a main exit or entrance to a 8 See, Bronstein AC, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR, et al. American Association of Poison Control Centers Annual Report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers Centers National Poison Data System (NPDS): 27th Annual Report Clinical Toxicology, 48(10): , p. 1124, Available at: 11 See, e.g., Health & Saf. Code (publicly owned facilities), (dining facility of health clinic), Lab. Code (places of employment); and Health & Saf. Code (family day care homes).

4 Page 4 of 7 public building. 12 State law expressly does not preempt cities from passing more restrictive anti-smoking laws. 13 The Compassionate Use Act exempts those who possess or cultivate marijuana for the purpose of personal medical purposes under the approval of a physician from state laws making the use and possession of marijuana a crime. 14 The Medical Marijuana Program Act provides procedures to implement the Compassionate Use Act, including the use of medical marijuana identification cards. 15 The Medical Marijuana Program Act expressly provides that nothing in that Act authorizes someone with a medical marijuana identification card to smoke where smoking is prohibited by law. 16 D. State Law and Outdated LMC Provisions The State law has substantially changed since the City originally adopted its indoor smoking regulations. Many of the provisions in the LMC are inconsistent with the State smoking regulations. For example, the LMC allows smoking in bars and restaurants in Sections and State law generally prohibits smoking in these places. 17 As discussed above, the State law does not preempt the City from passing more restricting smoking regulations, but it does preempt the City from passing less restrictive smoking regulations. The City may not authorize smoking where the State law makes it unlawful. The LMC does include language to make clear that smoking is banned in any place it is illegal under other laws. (LMC Section ) However, it is advisable to amend the LMC to bring it up to date to avoid any confusion, by City residents and businesses, as well as those enforcing the LMC. E. Proposed Ordinance The proposed ordinance does all of the following: 1) Prohibits smoking in all publicly-owned and operated recreational areas; 2) Prohibits the discarding of cigarette butts and other smoking waste products in a recreational area; 12 See Health & Saf. Code ; and Gov. Code 7957(a).). 13 See Health & Saf. Code and See Health & Saf. Code See Health & Saf. Code to See Health & Saf. Code See Labor Code

5 Page 5 of 7 3) Recreational areas are defined to include any area that is publicly owned or controlled and open to the general public for recreational purposes. Such areas expressly include parks, special use parks (such as, dog parks, motorsports parks and bike parks), picnic areas, trails, bike paths, golf courses, swimming pools, and skateboard parks; 4) Defines smoking to include any activity that generates tobacco smoke, electronic cigarette vapors and marijuana smoke; 5) Substantially revises several sections of the LMC to make it consistent with State law and provide a simpler ordinance. Language from recently adopted smoking regulations in Solvang and Santa Maria were used for several of the proposed amendments. All changes are summarized in the following table: LMC Section Proposed Amendment Purpose. The purpose section was supplemented to add findings related to secondhand smoke and the danger of smoking waste to children Definitions. Definitions were updated to be consistent with amendments to Chapter 8, including: adding definition for recreational areas, updating definition of smoke to include smoke from marijuana cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and deleting definitions that are no longer needed, such as restaurant Prohibition of Smoking in Enclosed Places. Updated to generally prohibit smoking in all public places with a narrow list of exceptions, rather than list separately all of the public places smoking is prohibited. Also, eliminated some of the language that created exceptions to smoking prohibitions that were inconsistent with State law. The new language, which is similar to that found in the Solvang and Santa Maria ordinances, is more restrictive than State law, which has some narrow exceptions to its laws based on its focus on labor standards and not public access. For example, State law would

6 Page 6 of 7 allow smoking in volunteer-operated facilities that are open to the public and would allow smoking in a business held out to the public if it was owner-operated and has no employees Regulation of Smoking in Places of Employment Prohibition of Smoking in Unenclosed Places. Updated to refer to State law that regulates places of employment. Deleted previous section that specifically exempted certain places from the City s smoking ordinance, such as bars and hotels. Added new section to prohibit smoking in City parks and other recreational areas as described above Posting of Signs. Updates the Code section to provide that signs, as specifically described, shall be placed in all places where smoking is prohibited to notify the public and employees. Prior section only required signs where they were otherwise required in a separate Code section Enforcement. No Changes Violations to be Infractions. Deleted language that limited violations to smoking in places where signs were posted Retaliation. No Changes Other Applicable Laws. Added language to clarify that smoking is not allowed in any place it is prohibited by other laws, including laws that may be amended after the adoption of the City s ordinance. Fiscal Impact: We do not believe there will be additional costs to the City s General Fund or other City funds resulting from the introduction and adoption of the Proposed Ordinance. Conclusion: After reviewing and discussing the Proposed Ordinance, the Council is requested to introduce Ordinance No. 1604(14) (Attachment 2) for first reading.

7 Page 7 of 7 Respectfully submitted, Joseph W. Pannone City Attorney Larry Ralston Chief of Police APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL TO THE CITY COUNCIL: Patrick Wiemiller, City Administrator Attachments: 1) Ordinance No. 1604(14) (marked up version) 2) Ordinance No. 1604(14) (final version)

Council Agenda Report

Council Agenda Report From: Subject: Robert Burton, Chief of Police Second Reading - Smoking Ordinance Date: February 21, 2017 Facts 1. On February 7, 2017 the City Council held a public hearing then introduced