Articles and Links
Condos in California, United States
March 10, 2016
I will post articles and links as I find them (this can mean daily or frequently during the day).
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CALIFORNIA CITIES with Smoke-Free Housing Provisions 2011 - Existing Units

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Arcata
Berkeley
Burlingame
Culver City
Davis
Glendale

Lafayette
Laguna Beach
Legal
Modesto
Orange County
Orinda

Palo Alto
Petaluma
San Diego
San Jose
San Mateo

San Rafael
Santa Monica
Santa Rosa
Statewide
Walnut Creek

Arcata

4/19/13

Arcata to fine tune new smoking bans: Questions raised about APD's ability to enforce stricter rules

The Times-Standard During its meeting on Wednesday, the Arcata City Council decided to drop two of the seven proposed revisions to the city's current smoking prohibitions -- smoking within private areas in multi-units housing and options for tobacco-free educational programs.

Berkeley

12/5/13 Berkeley moves forward with ordinance to ban smoking in multiunit housing The Daily Californian On Tuesday, Berkeley City Council unanimously approved the first of two readings of an ordinance that would ban cigarette smoking in all multiunit housing in Berkeley.
5/8/13 Berkeley Eyes Anti-Tobacco Law in Multi-Unit Housing Berkeley Patch Berkeley could become the first rent-control city in the nation to ban secondhand tobacco smoke in all multi-unit housing if the City Council adopts an anti-tobacco ordinance that's on the May 7 council agenda, according to city staff.
5/3/13 All Indoor Smoking in Shared Housing Should Be Banned in Berkeley The Berkeley Daily Planet You’re about to get a smokefree housing proposal, possibly more than one competing proposal, in a nearly ten year effort to protect more people in apartments and condominiums from secondhand smoke.
3/2/13 Big Tobacco’s Unlikely Allies in the Effort to Keep the Poor Hooked on Cigarettes The Berkeley Daily Planet Imagine a committee meeting where California legislators gather to consider AB746, Congressional Representative Marc Levine’s proposal to protect people in multi-unit housing from secondhand smoke.
2/23/13 Berkeley Says No to Clean Air The Berkeley Daily Planet Protecting all tenants in new housing may not protect those who don’t live there, but it protects the tenants who do live there!

Burlingame

5/20/15 City moving forward with smoking ban: Burlingame considers expanding restriction beyond proposed apartments and condominiums The Daily Journal Smokers in Burlingame will likely soon be facing tighter restrictions on where they can light up, as the City Council is laying the groundwork toward banning smoking in attached living facilities such as apartments and condominiums.
5/16/15 Burlingame to consider smoking ban in apartments The Daily Journal Should the multi-unit smoking ban be applied, it would expand the city’s restrictions levied on smokers, which already prohibits smoking in the common areas of apartment buildings, condominiums, senior living homes and other large residential facilities.

Culver City

8/14/14 Council Moves Forward on Apartment Smoking Ban Culver City Observer On August 11, the City Council moved a not-at-all-silly millimeter closer to a ban on smoking in apartment complexes and condos, giving direction to the City for drafting an ordinance that would ban smoking in any complex of two or more units.

Davis

9/2/15 Davis bans smoking in parks, other public areas SacBee.com Davis is now looking at banning smoking in private homes that are part of multifamily housing units.

Glendale
City Ordinance

5/15/13 Glendale considers clamping down further on smoking Glendale News-Press The City Council on Tuesday moved to ban smoking in all new apartment and condominium units, give individuals the right to sue others who break smoking rules and increase the distance between smokers and non-smokers in outdoor dining areas.

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Lafayette

5/2/13 Multifamily housing smoking ban eyed MercuryNews.com Lafayette officials are eyeing changes to the city's municipal code to address the effects of secondhand smoke in apartment buildings and other multiple dwelling units.

Laguna Beach

5/29/13 Smoke Free, The Way It Should Be Laguna Beach Independent Why doesn’t the Laguna Beach City Council protect our multi-dwelling homeowners and tenants from being the recipient of second hand smoke?

Legal

8/7/12 Smoking Bans: An Increasingly Viable Alternative for California Condo and HOAs Seeking Ways To Address Complaints of Secondhand Smoke HOA Law Blog A budding trend among community associations, or at least a topic of significant consideration, is to amend the CC&Rs to include the adoption of a community-wide smoking ban, restricting all homeowners from smoking anywhere within the Association, including their own units.

Modesto

3/4/13 Smoking ban impact on Modesto-area rentals is uneven The Modesto Bee Modesto-area property and apartment managers are split on the merits of proposed legislation that would ban smoking in all of the state's multiunit dwellings.

Orange County

3/13/13 JURY SLAPS HOA IN SECONDHAND SMOKE DISPUTE Colorado Springs, CO The Gazette Is the battle of the butts now coming to homeowners associations?
3/12/13 Condo owners win secondhand smoke case Orange County Register An Orange County jury has found a homeowners association negligent for failing to resolve a secondhand smoke dispute between neighbors at a Trabuco Canyon condominium.

Orinda

4/24/15 Orinda looks at snuffing out smoke MercuryNews.com City leaders agreed this week to develop an ordinance to stamp out smoking in outdoor dining areas and public events, and create smoke-free housing in existing apartments and condominiums.

Palo Alto

5/13/15

Palo Alto: Committee balks at restricting smoking in apartments, condos mercurynews.com But a City Council committee stopped short Tuesday night of making a recommendation that the full council add apartments and condos to the list of places people aren't allowed to light up -- for now.

Petaluma

1/23/14 Petaluma's secondhand smoke rules lauded; mixed grades for rest of county PressDemocrat.com “I’m happy we did that,” Mayor David Glass said, referring to the Petaluma council’s approval last January of a smoking ban that covered all private housing with at least one shared wall — apartments, duplexes and condos.
1/16/13 Petaluma starts 2013 with trash, smoking ordinances The Press Democrat In December, the council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the new regulations, which include banning cigarette, marijuana and e-cigarette use in all hotel rooms, private apartments and condos, and from outdoor spaces including balconies, courtyards, bus stops and on commercial sidewalks.
1/8/13 Petaluma council toughens smoking restrictions Petaluma360.com New multi-family housing units must be smoke-free by July 16.
1/2/13 Poll: Tighter smoking rules a good idea Pulse of Petaluma The owner of a rental complex should be able to decide if he or she wants their complex to be smoking or non smoking.
12/5/12 PD Editorial: The haze of second-hand smoke PressDemocrat.com Although the ordinance included a controversial move to ban smoking inside apartment and condominium complexes as well as hotels, restricting smoking to designated outside areas, city officials found that few property owners had a problem with the changes.
12/3/12 Petaluma City Council OKs tough smoking restrictions PressDemocrat.com The City Council late Monday night unanimously approved broad new smoking restrictions, including banning smoking in multi-family housing units, such as apartments and condos, and from certain outdoor spaces, including private balconies, decks, courtyards and bus stops.

San Diego

1/3/15 HOA: Smoking bans, flags (I do not recommend grandfathering as mentioned in this areticle.) utsandiego.com Any habit, including smoking, should not be a nuisance for other owners.
2/15/12 Smoking in apartments could be outlawed, Fox 5 News A draft ordinance would ban smoking in apartments and condos.4

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San Jose

5/22/12 Outdoor Smoking Ban Extended to Patios, Waiting Lines, Condo Commons NeighborWebSJ.com The San Jose City Council voted unanimously to extend the ban on outdoor smoking to include outdoor patios, standing in line at ATMs or movie theaters and in common outdoor areas of apartment and condo complexes.
4/10/12

San Jose expands outdoor smoking ban

Silicon Valley Mercury News Outdoor dining areas, outdoor common areas of apartments and condos, service lines such as bus stops and ATMs, all are off limits to smoking.
2/7/11 Neighbor's Secondhand Smoke Seeps Into San Jose condo CBS 5 News A San Jose woman who invested in a luxury condominium is unable to live in her unit, overcome by her neighbor’s secondhand smoke.

San Mateo

10/22/14

San Mateo County bans smoking inside apartments, condos and townhomes

Inside Bay Area Smoking either tobacco or electronic cigarettes will be prohibited inside apartments, condominiums and townhomes in unincorporated areas of San Mateo County under a ban approved 4-1 Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.
8/16/14 IDEA and progress San Mateo Daily Journal Quasi-public is defined as “essentially public although under private ownership or control” and includes everything from a shopping center to common interest developments (which includes homeowners’ associations as well as apartments) through to commercial buildings and their sidewalks and passage ways.

San Rafael

11/29/13 San Rafael Smoking Ban Ignites Media Firestorm San Rafael Patch The smoking law has sparked coverage in major national publications including ABC News, Fox News, United Press International and Huffington Post, among many others.
11/21/13 California Town Bans Smoking in Condos and Apartments That Share Walls ABC News The new ordinance makes it illegal for residents to smoke in their own homes if they share a wall with another dwelling.
10/24/12 Smoking Ordinance City of San Rafael These changes address concerns about outdoor air and multi-family housing.
10/23/12 More Cities Ban Smoking In Apartment Buildings 90.9 WBUR Radio Smokers who live in apartment buildings in San Rafael, Calif., won’t be able to light up anymore – not even inside their own apartments.
10/16/12 San Rafael Passes Country's Toughest Smoking Ban NBC Bay Area The thing that makes the San Rafael ban tougher than other cities is the fact that it bans smoking in all apartment and condominium units. Bans in other cities only include a designation of "some" units as smoke-free.
10/3/12 San Rafael clears the smoke... PacifcSun.com San Rafael joined Larkspur and the County of Marin in banning smoking in parks, outdoor restaurant areas and bus stops, beginning October 2013, but became the first municipality in the Marin to "filter" cigarette and cigar fumes from apartments and condominiums.
10/2/12 Council Approves Marin's Toughest Smoking Ban San Rafael Patch The ban prohibits smoking on downtown sidewalks, in local parks as well as indoors and outside of duplexes and multi-family houses.
10/1/12 San Rafael officials approve tough new smoking rules marinij.com San Rafael officials approved the county's toughest anti-tobacco ordinance to date on Monday, banning smoking from all apartments and condominiums, in addition to parks, bus stops, restaurant patios and many other outdoor spaces.
10/1/12 Council Considers Tough Smoking Ban San Rafael Patch San Rafael smokers might not be able to light up on downtown sidewalks, in local parks or indoors or outside of duplexes and multi-family houses.
9/29/12 San Rafael officials to consider strict smoking rules marinij.com The ordinance would ban smoking from all apartments and condominiums, in addition to many outdoor spaces such as parks, bus stops and restaurant patios.
9/25/12 City Council to Consider New Smoking Ordinance - 10/1 City of San Rafael Duplexes and multi-family residential units (apartments and condominiums) & Indoor and outdoor common areas of residential units, with the allowance of designated smoking areas.
9/4/12 Secondhand Smoke Fact Sheet City of San Rafael The following tables summarize the proposed changes to the City of San Rafael’s municipal code with regards to secondhand smoke.

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Santa Monica

10/4/12 Santa Monica Council Revives Smoking Ban in Apartments SurfSantaMonica.com The Santa Monica City Council banned smoking in all new apartments after a 5-to-2 vote Tuesday finally approved a smoking ban after over a year of debate.
10/3/12 Residential no-smoking law passes Santa Monica City Council KABC-TV Los Angeles The Santa Monica City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday night making it illegal for new apartment and condominium tenants to smoke in their units.
10/3/12 Revised Apartment Smoking Ban Approved Santa Monica Patch Santa Monica City Council revisits ordinance intended to prevent residents from 'being smoked out of house and home.' This time, it approves rules that address medical marijuana, too.
7/25/12 Santa Monica Smoking Ban Fails Second Reading Santa Monica Lookout After Mayor Richard Bloom changed his vote Tuesday, the Santa Monica City Council scuttled an anti-smoking ordinance that would have banned smoking in all new apartments in the beachside city.
      Santa Monica smokers win battle to light up at home Guardian.co.uk
      Proposed residential smoking ban in Santa Monica fails Los Angeles Times
7/24/12 Santa Monica Shelves Smoking Ban Santa Monica Patch The City Council failed to put on the books Tuesday night new regulations that would have snuffed out smoking—medical marijuana included—in all newly-constructed apartments and condos in Santa Monica.
        Letters: Santa Monica's common-sense smoking ban Los Angeles Times
7/22/12 Let 'em smoke, Santa Monica Los Angeles Times Santa Monica officials say they're trying to address a public health problem.
7/20/12
When or if the smoke clears
Santa Monica Daily Post And frankly I panic when my neighbors move out for fear the new ones will be cigar, cigarette or marijuana smokers.
7/20/12 Loretta Keller: Condo smoking ban ordinance in Santa Monica goes too far Pasadena Star News WITH a new secondhand smoke law pending, Santa Monica's apartment houses and condominiums should display signs saying either "CAUTION! SMOKERS HEREIN!" or "CAUTION! NEIGHBORS HEREIN!" depending on your point of view.

7/19/12 UPDATE We have just been informed by Mayor Bloom that Councilmember Shriver will not be present at the meeting. Therefore, there probably will not be enough votes to pass the second reading of the ordinance. The Mayor assured me that the ordinance will come back in the future, but as a first reading.
7/13/12 Smoking To Be Banned In Santa Monica Apartments, Condos Santa Monica Mirror Smokers across Santa Monica are on the verge of having one less place to light up: their own homes.
7/12/12 Council OKs more restrictive smoking ban Santa Monica Daily Press CITY HALL – In a drastic turn, the City Council approved a law Tuesday night that would prohibit smoking for new tenants in multi-unit housing and force existing residents to designate their apartments and condominiums smoking or lose the right to light up in their homes at all.
      City to Force Tenants to Declare: Smoking or Non-smoking? Santa Monica Patch
     Smoking Banned Inside Santa Monica Residences NBC 4 News
7/11/12 Santa Monica to Ban Smoking for Renters KTLA News In an effort to curb second-hand smoke, Santa Monica city council members have approved a law that would prohibit smoking for new tenants in apartments and condos.

Santa Rosa

8/26/14 Santa Rosa moves toward tighter restrictions on secondhand smoke RessDemocrat.com Smoking tobacco, marijuana and even electronic cigarettes in apartments, condominiums and most public places would be banned in Santa Rosa under a sweeping expansion of the city’s anti-smoking laws supported by the City Council on Tuesday.

Walnut Creek

11/22/13 Barnidge: Where there's smoke, there's trouble for Walnut Creek Council Contra Costa Times That's a position, of course, that ignores the rights of neighbors to breathe without inhaling secondhand smoke.
6/14/13

Walnut Creek council to consider stricter secondhand smoke ordinance Tuesday

MercuryNews.com The city would post signs in parks and downtown to serve as public notification and property owners would be required to disclose smoking restrictions to prospective tenants and buyers, she said.

"But now God has shown us a different way to heaven - not by "being good enough" and trying to keep his laws, but by a new way (though not new, really, for the Scriptures told about it long ago). Now God says he will accept and acquit us - declare us "not guilty" - if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like. Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious ideal; yet now God declares us "not guilty" of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins." Romans 3:21-24 Living Bible