Mountain View bans smoking in multi-family residences, including common areas and inside units | News

Mountain View City Council voted 6-1 on Tuesday evening for a sweeping smoking ban that banned residents from smoking tobacco or marijuana in all apartments, condos and other multi-unit residential units.

The restrictions will take effect next year and will take a comprehensive approach that includes all residential properties with three or more attached units. Residents are prohibited from smoking in residential units, in public areas, on private balconies and terraces, and within a 25-foot radius of houses.

Despite reservations that the anti-smoking ordinance restricts personal freedoms and those who cannot afford to live in single-family homes – which would be exempt from the ban – council members would broadly agree that the health benefits and reductions would be in used smoke the costs outweigh the costs. The ordinance also flatly bans recreational and medical marijuana use, raising concerns for those who rely on cannabis for treatment.

The regulation builds on the smoking bans passed by the city in 2012, which banned smoking in outdoor dining areas as well as in public parks and buildings. Since then, numerous jurisdictions across the region have significantly shortened the question of when and where people can smoke cigarettes, making Mountain View the city with some of the most lax regulations.

Cities where smoking is banned in apartment buildings include Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Los Gatos, according to an analysis from Santa Clara County.

Councilor Sally Lieber said she supported the regulation, describing tobacco as “one of the worst scourges” and that children currently stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic are disproportionately affected by secondhand smoke. Councilor Lucas Ramirez said the restrictions in the ordinance make sense and that he himself is exposed to smoke pouring into his apartment through his windows.

“It was annoying when I moved here, but it got downright miserable when I was locked up here and had to work remotely during the pandemic,” Ramirez said. “I have two windows facing the same direction and a lot of neighbors who smoke, and it got just unbearable, especially in the summer months. It was hot here … but I couldn’t get any relief when you open the windows , smoke come in. “

A citywide poll leading up to the May 25 council meeting found that 75% of respondents were in favor of banning smoking and steaming tobacco products in apartment buildings, while 21% were against it. That number drops to 48% for marijuana, with 21% believing medical marijuana should be exempt. Just under a third of those surveyed said that smoking is already banned in their homes.

City officials say newer complexes tend to ban smoking in all units and public areas, while older apartments tend to take a hands-off approach.

Anti-smoking groups, including Breathe California, strongly supported the ordinance, arguing that the law could go further by extending the ban to duplex apartments. Vanessa Marvin, co-founder of Santa Clara County’s Tobacco Free Coalition, said the ordinance would put all property managers and landlords on the same page, and protection from secondhand smoke would not be undermined if owned.

Andre Tomas, a resident and union representative for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 521, urged the council not to pass the regulation, arguing the city has more important things to do. By including marijuana, residents who depend on medical marijuana will no longer smoke in their own homes, he said.

“If we pass this, it will alienate members of our community who use marijuana to treat pain and a variety of diseases in the privacy of their homes,” he said.

Councilor Pat Showalter, the only dissenting vote, said she recognizes second-hand smoking as a major problem but sees the ordinance as exceeding the city. While she said she hopes people don’t smoke, it’s not clear where people who live in apartment buildings are allowed to smoke under the new law.

“I think this is kind of an invasion of people’s personal freedoms,” Showalter said. “That is not appropriate for us.”

Mayor Ellen Kamei recognized the balancing act of protecting people from secondhand smoke while residents were free to choose what to do with their bodies, but ended up on the side of smoke restrictions.

“I believe everyone should be able to make their own personal choices about smoking what they want, but I think in these cases we think about the health and wellbeing of our community,” said Kamei.

Starting January 1, 2022, owners will have to start enforcing the no-smoking policy, which will require the posting of no-smoking signs and new rental contracts to reflect anti-smoking rules. The regulation provides a comprehensive definition of what equates to smoking, including various types of “incineration, electronic ignition, or vaporization of any inhalation product, including but not limited to tobacco, medical marijuana and recreational marijuana”.

City officials say none of the cities in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties with similar anti-smoking regulations have granted a medical marijuana exemption and that the Santa Clara County Health Department has advised against such an exemption.