The Board of Health, pursuant to the authority granted under
MGL c. 111, § 31, hereby adopts the following regulation
to protect the public health of the community.
There exists conclusive evidence that tobacco smoke causes cancer,
respiratory diseases, various cardiac problems, allergies, and irritations
to the eyes, nose and throat of both the smoker and nonsmoker exposed
to secondhand smoke. Evidence further demonstrates that nicotine,
present in tobacco, is extremely addictive. Almost 90% of all smokers
begin smoking before the age 18 (the minimum legal age to be sold
cigarettes in the Commonwealth), and every day an estimated additional
3,000 minors begin smoking in United States. There is an urgent health
need to reduce easy access by youths to tobacco and nicotine products
through strict enforcement of the state law prohibiting sales to minors,
MGL c. 270, § 6, and additional measures. Therefore, these
regulations are adopted pursuant to MGL c. 111, § 31, as
reasonable health regulations designed to protect and improve the
health of the residents of the Town of Dover.
As used in this regulation:
BAR
An establishment whose business is devoted to the serving
of alcoholic beverages for consumption by guests or customers on the
premises and in which the service of food is only incidental to the
consumption of such beverages.
BAR AREA OF A RESTAURANT
An area of a restaurant that is devoted to the serving of
alcoholic beverages for consumption by guests or restaurant patrons
on the premises and in which the serving of food is only incidental
to the consumption of such beverages.
BUSINESS AGENT
An individual who has been designated by the owner or operator
of any establishment to be the manager or otherwise in charge of said
establishment.
E-CIGARETTE
Any electronic nicotine delivery product composed of a mouthpiece,
heating element, battery and/or electronic circuits that provides
a vapor of liquid nicotine to the user or relies on vaporization of
solid nicotine or any liquid. This term shall include such devices
whether they are sold as e-cigarettes, e-cigars, e-pipes or under
any other product name.
EMPLOYEE
Any individual who performs services for an employer in return
for wages or profit and any person who volunteers his or her services
for an employer.
EMPLOYER
Any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
trust, or other business entity or organization of any kind, including
the Town of Dover or any agency thereof, which utilizes the services
of one or more individual employees.
ENCLOSED
A space bound by walls continuous from the floor to the ceiling,
enclosed by doors and under a roof.
HEALTH CARE FACILITY
Any office or institution providing care or treatment of
diseases, whether physical, mental or emotional, or other medical,
physiological or psychological conditions, including but not limited
to rehabilitation hospitals or other clinics, including weight control
clinics, nursing homes, homes for the aging or chronically ill, laboratories,
offices of any surgeon, chiropractor, physical therapist, physician,
dentist and all specialists within these professions.
INDOOR SPORTS ARENA
Any sports pavilion, gymnasium, health spa, boxing arena,
swimming pool, roller or ice rink, bowling alley, or other similar
place where members of the general public assemble to engage in physical
exercise, participate in athletic competition or witness sports events.
MUNICIPAL BUILDING
Any building or enclosed facility owned, operated, rented,
leased or occupied by the Town of Dover, including school buildings
and school grounds.
MUNICIPAL VEHICLE
Any vehicle owned, rented, leased, or operated by the Town
of Dover, including, without limitation, cars, trucks, and buses.
NICOTINE DELIVERY PRODUCT
Any article or product made wholly or in part of a tobacco
substitute or otherwise containing nicotine that is expected or intended
for human consumption, but not including a tobacco substitute prescribed
by a licensed physician or a product that has been approved by the
United States Food and Drug Administration for sale as a tobacco use
cessation or harm reduction product or for other medical purposes
and which is being marketed and sold solely for that approved purpose.
Nicotine delivery products include, but are not limited to, e-cigarettes,
lozenges or other candy, drinks, and inhalers.
NONSMOKING AREA
Any area that is designated and posted by the proprietor
or person in charge as a place where smoking by patrons, employees
or others is prohibited.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
trust, or other business entity or organization of any kind, including,
but not limited to, an owner, operator, manager, proprietor or person
in charge of any building, establishment, business, restaurant or
retail store, or the business agents or designees of any of the foregoing.
PRIVATE CLUB
A not-for-profit establishment created and organized pursuant
to MGL c. 180 as a charitable corporation with a defined membership.
A private club is not a place of public accommodation but rather is
distinctly private.
PUBLIC PLACE
An enclosed, indoor area when open to and used by the general
public, including but not limited to the following facilities: restaurants,
bar areas of restaurants, bars, auditoriums, licensed child care locations,
educational facilities, clinics, hospitals, medical buildings, health
care facilities, nursing homes, long term care facilities, public
libraries, municipal buildings, museums, theaters, retail stores,
retail food stores, indoor sports arenas, public transit facilities
not owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or United States government,
enclosed shopping malls, stairwells, hallways, entrance ways, public
rest rooms, elevators accessible to the public, common areas in privately
owned buildings, and any clubs, rooms or halls when open to the public
or when used for public meetings. A room or hall used for a private
social function that is not open to the public and is under the control
of the host or hostess rather than the proprietor or manager, such
as a wedding reception, shall not be construed as a public place.
Public places shall also include all areas available to and customarily
used by the general public in all businesses and non-profit entities
patronized by the public, including but not limited to, attorneys'
offices and other offices, banks, laundromats, hair cutting establishments
and salons, and hotels and motels. Areas of private residences shall
not be considered public places except during those hours when operating
as a public meeting place, a food service establishment, such as a
residential kitchen permitted by the Board of Health, or as a business
open to the public.
RESTAURANT
Any coffee shop, cafeteria, workplace cafeteria, sandwich
stand, private and public school cafeteria, and other eating establishment
which gives or offers food for sale to the public, guests, or employees
for on-premises consumption. This includes all food service establishments
licensed by the Board of Health, including catering facilities, but
does not include private clubs or fraternal organizations when either
is closed to the public.
RETAIL FOOD STORE
Any establishment whose primary activity is the sale of food
items to the public for off-premises consumption, including, but not
limited to, supermarket, grocery store, bakery, or convenience store.
This includes any "take-out" food service establishment and all other
food service establishments not included in the definition of a restaurant.
RETAIL STORE
Any retail service establishment whose primary purpose is
to sell or offer for sale to consumers, but not for resale, any goods,
wares, merchandise, articles, other things or services. "Retail store"
shall include retail food stores but shall not include restaurants
as defined herein.
SELF-SERVICE DISPLAY
Any display of tobacco products or nicotine delivery products
from which individual, multi-packages, or cartons of such products
may be selected by the customer without assistance from a clerk.
SMOKING
The inhaling, exhaling, burning, holding or carrying of any
lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, e-cigarette, or other lighted tobacco
product or nicotine delivery product in any form.
TOBACCO PRODUCT
Any product containing tobacco in any of its forms, including,
but not limited to, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff, cigars, bidis,
and pipe tobacco.
WORKPLACE
Any structure or portion thereof where one or more employees
perform services for their employer. It also includes motor vehicles,
employee lounges, rest rooms, conference rooms, hallways, stairways,
and entrance ways. Areas of private residences shall not be considered
workplaces except during those hours when operating as a public place,
a food service establishment, such as a residential kitchen permitted
by the Board of Health or as a business open to the public.
No person or entity may sell or cause to be sold, or distribute
or cause to be distributed, any single cigarette, or any package that
contains fewer than 20 cigarettes.
No free or nominal cost samples of tobacco products or nicotine
delivery products shall be distributed or sold within the Town of
Dover. No tobacco sales permit holder, or his or her business agent
or designee, shall redeem or honor any coupons or vouchers redeemable
for tobacco, tobacco products or nicotine delivery products within
the Town of Dover.
The sale of tobacco products or nicotine delivery products by
means of vending machines is prohibited.
In conformance with MGL c. 270, § 7, a copy of MGL
c. 270, § 6, shall be posted conspicuously by the owner
or other person in charge thereof in the shop or other place used
to sell tobacco products at retail. Such notice shall be the notice
provided by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for this
purpose.
Such notice shall be at least 48 square inches and shall be
posted at the cash register which receives the greatest volume of
tobacco product sales in such a manner so that it may be readily seen
by a person standing at or approaching the cash register. Such notice
shall directly face the purchaser and shall not be obstructed from
view or placed at a height of less than four feet or greater than
nine feet from the floor. For all other cash registers that sell tobacco
products, a notice shall be attached which is no smaller than nine
square inches, which is the size of the sign provided by the Massachusetts
Department of Public Health. Such notice must be posted in a manner
so that it may be readily seen by a person standing at or approaching
the cash register. Such notice shall directly face the purchaser and
shall not be obstructed from view or placed at a height of less than
four feet or more than nine feet from the floor.
No person shall display an advertisement for tobacco products
or nicotine delivery products on or in any bus, taxicab licensed or
garaged within the Town of Dover, or any other vehicle used for public
transportation within the Town of Dover. Anyone violating this regulation
shall be subject to a fine of not more than $100 per day per vehicle.
Each day or portion thereof during which a violation continues shall
constitute a separate offense.
Any person desiring to sell tobacco products or nicotine delivery
products must obtain a permit to sell such products from the Board
of Health within 30 days from the effective date of this regulation,
or before commencing such sales, whichever is later. An application
for a permit to sell tobacco products or nicotine delivery products
must be made annually, and the application for a new or renewal permit
must be made on a form provided by the Board of Health and must include
an annual permit fee as established by the Board of Health for that
year's permits. Annual permits expire on June 30, and applications
for a permit renewal must be submitted 30 days prior to its expiration
date. Prior to the issuance of the new or renewal permit, the person
and an agent of the Board of Health must conduct an inspection of
the sales facilities to determine compliance with all rules and regulations
pertaining to the sale or distribution of tobacco products and nicotine
delivery products. The Board of Health is authorized to deny the issuance
or renewal of a permit if the sales facilities do not comply with
this regulation. The Board is also authorized to revoke a permit for
cause, after notice and a hearing, for failure to comply with this
regulation. Decisions of the Board of Health may be appealed pursuant
to MGL c. 249, § 4.
These regulations shall not be interpreted or construed to permit
smoking where it is otherwise restricted by other applicable health,
safety or fire codes, regulations or statutes.
If any provision of these regulations is declared invalid or
unenforceable, the other provisions shall not be affected thereby
but shall continue in full force and effect.
This regulation shall take effect 30 days after publication
of a summary of the regulation in a newspaper distributed in the Town
of Dover. As required by MGL c. 111, § 31, an attested copy
has been filed with DEP on June 8, 1994. This regulation was voted
by a majority of this Board on April 25, 1994, amended on May 11,
1998, September 24, 2001, November 18, 2013, and July 10, 2023.