Administrative area.
The area of an establishment not generally accessible to
the public, including but not limited to individual offices, stockrooms,
employee lounges, or meeting rooms.
Bar.
An establishment which has more than fifty-one (51) percent
of its annual gross sales from alcoholic beverages and which is devoted
to the serving of alcoholic beverages pursuant to the Texas Alcoholic
Beverage Code for consumption by guests on the premises and in which
the serving of food is only incidental to the consumption of such
beverages and where minors are not allowed admittance unless accompanied
by a parent or legal guardian. Food establishments that contain a
bar are not considered a “bar.”
Business.
A sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation,
or other business entity, either for-profit or not-for-profit, including
retail establishments where goods or services are sold; professional
corporations and other entities where legal, medical, dental, engineering,
architectural, or other professional services are delivered; and private
clubs.
Conspicuous.
Of a size and contrast that is clearly visible and legible
to the general public and unobstructed from view.
Director.
The director of the department designated by the city manager
to enforce and administer this article, or the director’s designated
representative.
Electronic cigarette or e-cigarette.
Any electronic or mechanical device usually composed of a
mouthpiece, heating element or atomizer, battery, and electronic circuits
that provides, or is manufactured to provide, a vapor and/or gas derived
from liquid nicotine and/or other substances delivered or deliverable
to the user to inhale in simulation of smoking. The term includes
every version and type of such devices whether they are manufactured
or marketed as electronic cigarettes, e-cigarettes, electronic cigars,
e-cigars, electronic pipes, e-pipes, electronic vaping device, mechanical
PV’s, electronic nicotine delivery system, or other similar
device under any other product name or description.
Employee.
A person who is employed by an employer in consideration
for direct or indirect monetary wages or profit, and a person who
volunteers his or her services for a nonprofit entity.
Employer.
A person, business, partnership, association, corporation,
including a municipal corporation, trust, or nonprofit entity that
employs the services of one or more individual persons.
Enclosed area.
All space between a floor and a ceiling that is bounded on
at least two sides by walls, doorways, or windows, whether open or
closed. A wall includes any retractable divider, garage door, or other
physical barrier, whether temporary or permanent and whether or not
containing openings of any kind.
Food service establishment or restaurant.
An eating establishment, including but not limited to, coffee
shops, cafeterias, sandwich stands, and private and public school
cafeterias, which gives or offers for sale food to the public, guests,
or employees, as well as kitchens and catering facilities in which
food is prepared on the premises for serving elsewhere. The term “restaurant”
shall include a bar area within the restaurant.
Health-care facility.
An 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, hospitals,
rehabilitation hospitals or other clinics, including weight control
clinics, nursing homes, long-term care facilities, homes for the aging
or chronically ill, laboratories, and offices of surgeons, chiropractors,
physical therapists, physicians, psychiatrists, dentists, and all
specialists within these professions. This definition shall include
all waiting rooms, hallways, private rooms, semiprivate rooms, and
wards within health-care facilities.
Hospital.
An institution that provides medical, surgical and overnight
facilities for patients.
Liquid nicotine.
Any liquid product composed either in whole or in part of
nicotine, propylene glycol and/or any other substance and manufactured
for use with electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes.
Person.
Any individual, firm, partnership, association, or other
legal entity.
Place of employment.
An area under the control of a public or private employer,
including, but not limited to, work areas, private offices, employee
lounges, restrooms, conference rooms, meeting rooms, classrooms, employee
cafeterias, hallways, construction sites, temporary offices, and vehicles.
A private residence is not a “place of employment” unless
it is used as a child-care, adult day-care, or health-care facility.
Playground.
Any park or recreational area designed in part to be used
by children that has play or sports equipment installed or that has
been designated or landscaped for play or sports activities, or any
similar facility located on public or private school grounds or on
city grounds.
Private club.
An organization, whether incorporated or not, which is the
owner, lessee, or occupant of a building or portion thereof used exclusively
for club purposes at all times, which is operated solely for a recreational,
fraternal, social, patriotic, political, benevolent, or athletic purpose,
but not for pecuniary gain, and which only sells alcoholic beverages
incidental to its operation. The affairs and management of the organization
are conducted by a board of directors, executive committee, or similar
body chosen by the members at an annual meeting. The organization
has established bylaws and/or a constitution to govern its activities.
The organization has been granted an exemption from the payment of
federal income tax as a club under 26 U.S.C. section 501.
Public business.
Any deliberation between a quorum of members of any board,
commission, department, committee, or agency within the executive
or legislative department of the state, or the city council, or any
board or commission of the city council, or any board or commission
of the city, at which any public business or public policy is discussed
or considered, or at which any formal action is taken.
Public place or area.
An area to which the public is invited or in which the public
is permitted, including but not limited to, bars, educational facilities,
financial institutions, gaming facilities, health-care facilities,
hotels and motels, laundromats, parking structures, public transportation
vehicles and facilities to include all ticketing, boarding, and waiting
area, reception areas, restaurants, retail food production and marketing
establishments, retail service establishments, retail stores, shopping
malls, sports arenas, theaters, and waiting rooms. A private residence
is not a “public place” unless it is used as a child-care,
adult day-care, or health-care facility.
Public service area.
Any area to which the general public routinely has access
for municipal services or which is designated a public service area
in a written policy prepared in compliance with this article.
Retail or service establishment.
Any establishment which sells goods or services to the general
public, including but not limited to, department stores, grocery stores,
liquor stores, banks, gasoline service stations, drugstores, theaters,
stadiums, auditoriums and movie houses.
Retail tobacco store or tobacco store.
A retail store where 75% of quarterly sales are from tobacco
products and accessories, to include electronic or digital cigarettes,
and in which the sale of other products is merely incidental.
Service line.
An indoor or outdoor line in which one (1) or more persons
are waiting for or receiving service of any kind, whether or not the
service involves the exchange of money, including but not limited
to, ATM lines, concert lines, food vendor lines, movie ticket lines,
and sporting event lines.
Shopping mall.
An enclosed or unenclosed public walkway or hall area that
serves to connect retail or professional establishments.
Smoking.
Inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted or heated
cigar, cigarette, or pipe, or any other lighted or heated tobacco
or plant product intended for inhalation, including hookahs and marijuana,
whether natural or synthetic, in any manner or in any form. “Smoking”
also includes the use of an electronic cigarette and/or electronic
smoking device of any kind which creates an aerosol or vapor from
the lighting, heating and/or burning of a tobacco product, liquid
nicotine and/or any tobacco substitute, in any manner or in any form,
or the use of any oral smoking device for the purpose of circumventing
the prohibition of smoking in this article.
Sports arena.
A place where people assemble to engage in physical exercise,
participate in athletic competition, or witness sports or other events,
including sports pavilions, stadiums, gymnasiums, health spas, boxing
arenas, swimming pools, roller and ice rinks, and bowling alleys.
Vapor shop.
For the purposes of this article shall mean a store used
primarily for the sale of electronic or digital cigarettes or substances
used in those or similar devices to produce inhalable vapors and in
which the sale of other products is incidental and where 80% of quarterly
sales are from the sale of these devices and/or substances.
Workplace.
Any enclosed area of a structure, or portion thereof, intended
for occupancy by employees who provide primarily clerical, professional,
or business services of a business entity, or which provide primarily
clerical, professional or business services to other business entities,
or to the public at that location.
(Ordinance O-18-15 adopted 12/8/15)
(a) Smoking
shall be prohibited in all enclosed public places within the city,
including but not limited to, the following places:
(1) Galleries, libraries, and museums;
(2) Areas available to the general public in businesses and nonprofit
entities patronized by the public, including but not limited to, financial
institutions, Laundromats, professional offices, and retail service
establishments;
(3) Child-care and adult day-care facilities;
(4) Convention facilities and meeting areas;
(5) Educational facilities, both public and private;
(6) Elevators and escalators;
(7) Gaming facilities, including but not limited to bowling and billiard
facilities;
(8) Health-care facilities and hospitals;
(9) Lobbies, hallways, and other common areas in apartment buildings,
condominiums, trailer parks, nursing homes, assisted living and independent
living facilities, and other multiple-unit residential facilities;
(12) Private and semi-private rooms in nursing homes;
(13) Public transportation vehicles, including buses and taxicabs, under
the authority of the city, and ticket, boarding, and waiting areas
of public transportation facilities, including bus, train, and airport
facilities;
(14) Restrooms, lobbies, reception areas, hallways, and other common-use
areas;
(16) Rooms, chambers, places of meeting or public assembly, including
school buildings, under the control of an agency, board, commission,
committee or council of the city or a political subdivision of the
state, to the extent the place is subject to the jurisdiction of the
city;
(19) Sports arenas, including enclosed places in outdoor arenas; and
(20) Theaters and other facilities primarily used for exhibiting motion
pictures, stage dramas, lectures, musical recitals, or other similar
performances.
(b) Smoking
shall be prohibited in the following outdoor public places:
(1) Within a reasonable distance of 50 feet outside entrances, operable
windows, and ventilation systems of enclosed areas where smoking is
prohibited, so as to prevent tobacco smoke from entering those areas;
(2) On all outdoor property that is adjacent to buildings owned, leased,
or operated by the city, and that is under the control of the city;
(3) In outdoor shopping malls, including parking structures;
(4) In all outdoor arenas, stadiums, and amphitheaters. Smoking shall
also be prohibited in, and within 50 feet of, bleachers and grandstands
for use by spectators at sporting and other public events;
(5) In outdoor recreational areas, including parking lots;
(6) City-owned public parks, including parking lots;
(7) In, and within 50 feet of, all outdoor playgrounds;
(8) In, and within 50 feet of, all outdoor public events;
(9) In, and within 50 feet of, all outdoor public transportation stations,
platforms, and shelters under the authority of the city;
(10) In all outdoor service lines, including lines in which service is
obtained by persons in vehicles, such as service that is provided
by bank tellers, parking lot attendants, and toll takers. In lines
in which service is obtained by persons in vehicles, smoking is prohibited
by both pedestrians and persons in vehicles, but only within 50 feet
of the point of service; and
(11) In outdoor common areas of apartment buildings, condominiums, manufactured
home/trailer parks, retirement facilities, nursing homes, and other
multiple-unit residential facilities, except in designated smoking
areas, not to exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the total outdoor
common area, which must be located at least 50 feet outside entrances,
operable windows, and ventilation systems of enclosed areas where
smoking is prohibited.
(Ordinance O-18-15 adopted 12/8/15)
Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the contrary,
the following areas shall be exempt from provisions of this article:
(1) Private
residences, unless used as a childcare, adult day-care, or health-care
facility;
(3) Retail
tobacco stores and vapor shops for sampling of the products sold in
such stores, so long as such smoking does not cause smoke or aerosol/“vapor”
to cross into other areas where smoking is not allowed.
(Ordinance O-18-15 adopted 12/8/15)
(a) The
owner, operator, manager, or other person in control of a public place
where smoking is prohibited by this article shall:
(1) Clearly and conspicuously post “no smoking” signs or
the international “no smoking” symbol (consisting of a
pictorial representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a red
circle with a red bar across it) in that place;
(2) Clearly and conspicuously post at every entrance to that place a
sign stating that smoking is prohibited or, in the case of outdoor
places, clearly and conspicuously post “no smoking” signs
in appropriate locations as determined by the director or an authorized
designee;
(3) Clearly and conspicuously post on every vehicle that constitutes
a place of employment under this article at least one sign, visible
from the exterior of the vehicle, stating that smoking is prohibited;
and
(4) Remove all ashtrays from any area where smoking is prohibited by
this article, except for ashtrays displayed for sale and not for use
on the premises.
(b) The
owner, operator, manager, or other person in control of a public place
where smoking is prohibited by this article shall have until February
1, 2016 to erect and install the sign(s) required in this section.
(c) It shall be a defense to prosecution under section
8.06.002 that the place where the offense takes place does not have a sign displayed in accordance with this section.
(Ordinance O-18-15 adopted 12/8/15)
All enclosed areas, including buildings and vehicles owned,
leased, or operated by the city, as well as all outdoor property adjacent
to such buildings and under the control of the city, shall be subject
to the provisions of this article.
(Ordinance O-18-15 adopted 12/8/15)
(a) This
article shall be enforced by the director.
(b) Notice
of the provisions of this article shall be given to all applicants
for a certificate of occupancy in the city.
(c) Any
citizen who desires to register a complaint under this article may
initiate enforcement with the director.
(d) An
owner, manager, operator, or employee of place regulated by this article
shall direct a person who is smoking in violation of this article
to extinguish or turn off the product being smoked. If the person
does not stop smoking, the owner, manager, operator, or employee shall
refuse service and shall immediately ask the person to leave the premises.
If the person in violation refuses to leave the premises, the owner,
manager, operator, or employee shall contact a law enforcement agency.
(e) Notwithstanding
any other provision of this article, an employee or private citizen
may bring legal action to enforce this article.
(f) In
addition to the remedies provided by the provisions of this section,
the director or any person aggrieved by the failure of the owner,
operator, manager, or other person in control of a public place to
comply with the provisions of this article may apply for injunctive
relief to enforce those provisions in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(Ordinance O-18-15 adopted 12/8/15)
(a) A
person who smokes in an area where smoking is prohibited by the provisions
of this article shall be guilty of an infraction, punishable by a
fine not to exceed $2,000.00 for each violation.
(b) Violation
of this article is hereby declared to be a public nuisance, which
may be abated by the city director or authorized designee by restraining
order, preliminary and permanent injunction, or other means provided
for by law, and the city may take action to recover the costs of the
nuisance abatement.
(c) Each
day on which a violation of this article occurs shall be considered
a separate and distinct violation.
(Ordinance O-18-15 adopted 12/8/15)