By Jorge Casuso
January 15 – The City Council unanimously approved a ban on smoking in common areas of multi-unit residential buildings Tuesday, confident the new law protects the health of non-smokers, while safeguarding smokers from eviction.
The law would not make it a criminal infraction to smoke in outdoor common areas, including patios, garden and pool areas and parking lots. Instead the victims of second hand smoke can file a civil action in court to get an injunction or collect as much as much as $100 in damages.
The decision came more than eight months after the council directed staff to draft the ordinance some worried could lead to the eviction of rent-control tenants by landlords who want to raise rents to market rates when a unit is vacated.
“It’s our job to weigh the ups and downs” of the ordinance, said council member Kevin McKeown. “It’s clear to me that I have to side with the health impacts.”
The law requires that a tenant 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 property's common areas.
“Before taking it to court, they must make a good faith effort,” said Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky, who is in charge of consumer affairs.
In crafting the ordinance, staff grappled with whether to include condominiums (the proposed ordinance does) and whether to grandfather smoking rights for existing rent control tenants (it doesn’t).
The action comes after dozens of tenants and health experts complained to the council that their health is at risk from second-hand smoke. ("Council Strengthens Existing Smoking Ban," April 9, 2008)
Some tenants said they were spending thousands of dollars on air filters, leaving doors open and even being driven from their homes by neighboring chain smokers.
With Tuesday’s action, Santa Monica joins Oakland -- whose ordinance serves as a model for the proposed measure -- as the only other city with rent control to impose such a ban.
