The city council finds, determines and declares that:
A. Tobacco
use and exposure to secondhand smoke cause death and disease and impose
great social and economic costs; and
B. More
than four hundred forty thousand people die in the United States from
tobacco-related diseases every year, making it the nation's leading
cause of preventable death; and
C. The
World Health Organization estimates that by 2030, tobacco will account
for ten million deaths per year, making it the greatest cause of death
worldwide; and
D. The
United States Environmental Protection Agency has found secondhand
smoke to be a risk to public health and has classified secondhand
smoke as a group A carcinogen, the most dangerous class of carcinogen;
and
E. Secondhand
smoke is responsible for an estimated thirty-eight thousand deaths
among non-smokers each year in the United States, which includes three
thousand lung cancer deaths and thirty-five thousand deaths due to
heart disease; and
F. Eighty-seven
and nine-tenths percent of non-smokers showed detectable levels of
cotinine (a metabolite of nicotine) in their blood, the most likely
source of which is secondhand smoke exposure; and
G. Secondhand
smoke exposure adversely affects fetal growth with elevated risk of
low birth weight and increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
in infants of mothers who smoke; and
H. Secondhand
smoke exposure causes as many as three hundred thousand children in
the United States under the age of eighteen months to suffer lower
respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis; exacerbates
childhood asthma; and increases the risk of acute, chronic, middle-ear
infections in children; and
I. The
total cost of smoking in California was estimated as four hundred
seventy-five dollars per resident or three thousand three hundred
thirty-one dollars per smoker per year, for a total of nearly fifteen
billion eight hundred million in smoking-related costs in 1999 alone;
and
J. Cigarettes,
cigars, pipes and other smoking materials are the leading cause of
fire deaths in the United States, causing an estimated thirty-one
thousand two hundred structure fires and eight hundred thirty deaths
in 2001; and
K. Eighty-four
percent of Californians are non-smokers; and
L. There
is no Constitutional right to smoke; and
M. State
law prohibits smoking in virtually all indoor places of employment
reflecting the state policy to protect against the dangers of exposure
to secondhand smoke; and
N. California
law declares that anything that is injurious to health or obstructs
the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment
of life or property is an nuisance; and
O. Local
governments have broad latitude to declare nuisances and are not constrained
by prior definitions of nuisance; and
P. It is
the intent of the city council of the city of Temecula in enacting
the ordinance codified in this chapter, to provide for the public
health, safety, and welfare by discouraging the inherently dangerous
behavior of smoking around non-tobacco users; by protecting children
from exposure to smoking where they live and play; and by protecting
the public from nonconsensual exposure to secondhand smoke in and
around their homes; and
Q. It is
the intent of the city council of the city of Temecula to supplement
applicable state and federal laws pertaining to smoking and not to
duplicate, contradict, or frustrate such laws. This chapter shall
be construed consistently with that intention.
(Ord. 07-05 § 1)
For the purposes of this chapter the following definitions shall
govern unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
"Business"
means any sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture,
corporation, association, or other entity formed for profit-making
purposes or that has an employee, as defined in this section.
"Dining area"
means any area available to or customarily used by the general
public that is designed, established, or regularly used for consuming
food or drink.
"Employee"
means any person who is employed; retained as an independent
contractor by any employer, as defined in this section; or any person
who volunteers his or her services for an employer, association, nonprofit,
or volunteer entity.
"Employer"
means any person, partnership, corporation, association,
nonprofit or other entity who employs or retains the service of one
or more persons, or supervises volunteers.
"Enclosed"
means:
1.
Any covered or partially covered space having more than fifty
percent of its perimeter area walled in or otherwise closed to the
outside such as, for example, a covered porch with more than two walls;
or
2.
Any space open to the sky (hereinafter "uncovered") having more
than seventy-five percent of its perimeter area walled in or otherwise
closed to the outside such as, for example, a courtyard; except that
an uncovered space of three thousand square feet or more is not enclosed,
such as, for example, a field in an open-air arena.
"Nonprofit entity"
means any entity that meets the requirements of Section 5003
of the California
Corporations Code as well as any corporation, unincorporated
association, or other entity created for charitable, religious, philanthropic,
educational, political, social, or similar purposes, the net proceeds
of which are committed to the promotion of the objectives or purposes
of the entity and not to private gain. A public agency is not a nonprofit
entity within the meaning of this section.
"Park"
means any community park, neighborhood park, special use,
or any other recreational facility maintained by the city of Temecula,
"Person"
means any natural person, partnership, cooperative association,
corporation, personal representative, receiver, trustee, assignee,
or any other legal entity.
"Place of employment"
means any area under the legal or de facto control of an
employer, business, or nonprofit entity that an employee or the general
public may have cause to enter in the normal course of operations,
but regardless of the hours of operation; including, for example,
indoor and outdoor work areas, construction sites, taxis, employee
lounges, conference and banquet rooms, bingo and gaming facilities,
longterm health facilities and warehouses.
"Playground"
means any park or recreational area designed in part to be
used by children that has play or sports equipment installed or 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.
"Public place"
means any place, public or private, open to the general public
regardless of any fee or age requirement; including, for example,
bars, restaurants, clubs, stores, shopping centers, stadiums, parks,
playgrounds, taxis and buses.
"Public plaza"
means any unenclosed public place other than a sidewalk that
is paved and permanently set aside for pedestrian use; including,
for example, courtyards, plazas, and promenades.
"Reasonable distance"
means a distance of twenty-five feet in any direction from
an area in which smoking is prohibited. This distance is reasonably
sufficient to make it unlikely that secondhand smoke will enter nonsmoking
areas.
"Recreational area"
means any area, public or private, open to the public for
recreational purposes regardless of any fee requirement, including,
for example, parks, gardens, sporting facilities, stadiums and playgrounds.
"Service area"
means any area designed to be or regularly used by one or
more persons to receive or wait to receive a service, enter a public
place, or make a transaction whether or not such service includes
the exchange of money; including, for example, automated teller machines
(ATMs), bank teller windows, telephones, ticket lines, bus stops and
cab stands.
"Significant tobacco retailer"
means any tobacco retailer that derives seventy-five percent
or more of gross sales receipts from the sale or exchange of tobacco
products and tobacco paraphernalia.
"Smoking" or "to smoke"
means 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, whether natural
or synthetic, in any manner or in any form. "Smoking" or "to smoke"
includes the use of an electronic smoking device that creates an aerosol
or vapor, in any manner or in any form, or the use of any oral smoking
device for the purpose of circumventing the prohibition of smoking.
(Ord. 07-05 § 1; Ord. 07-10 § 1; Ord.
07-11 § 1; Ord. 14-01 § 5; Ord. 19-02 § 5)
A. Enclosed Places. Smoking is prohibited in the following enclosed places except in places listed in subsection
C of this section, and except in such places in which smoking is already prohibited by state or federal law:
3. Enclosed
areas that are adjacent to an enclosed area in which smoking is prohibited
by any other provision of this chapter, state law, or federal law
and have a common or shared air space; such as, without limitation,
openings, cracks, air ventilation systems, doorways, hallways, and
stairways. For these purposes, the fact that smoke enters one enclosed
area from another enclosed area is conclusive proof that the areas
share a common or shared air space;
4. Enclosed
areas that have common or shared ventilation, air conditioning, or
heating system with an enclosed area in which smoking is prohibited.
Notwithstanding any other provision, the fact that smoke enters one
enclosed area from another enclosed area is conclusive proof that
the areas share a common or shared air space.
B. Unenclosed Places. Smoking is prohibited in the following unenclosed places except in places listed in subsection
C of this section, and except in such places in which smoking is already prohibited by state or federal law in which case the state or federal law applies:
4. Parks,
playgrounds, and recreational areas;
5. The
grounds of any public or private elementary or secondary school and
includes the possession of tobacco, nicotine, vapes, and smoking paraphernalia.
This subsection does not prohibit the possession of smoking cessation
products;
6. Ticket,
boarding and waiting areas of transit depots;
8. The
sites of public events including, for example, sports events, entertainment,
artistic or speaking performances, ceremonies, pageants, and fairs;
provided, however, that this prohibition shall not prevent the establishment
of a separate, designated smoking area set apart from and no larger
than the primary event area.
C. Unless
otherwise prohibited by law, smoking is permitted in the following
locations:
1. By
performers during theatrical productions, if smoking is a part of
the theatrical production;
2. Private residential property, except when designated as nonsmoking under Chapter
17.30 of this code or used as a childcare or health care facility subject to licensing requirements and children, patients, or employees are present;
3. Up
to twenty percent of hotel and motel guest rooms, if the hotel or
motel permanently designates particular guest rooms as nonsmoking
rooms such that eighty or more of its guest rooms are nonsmoking and
ashtrays and matches are permanently removed from such nonsmoking
rooms. Permanent "no smoking" signage shall be posted in nonsmoking
rooms;
4. Outdoor
dining areas of businesses operating under an on-sale license for
public premises issued by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage
Control.
(Ord. 07-05 § 1; Ord 07-11 § 1; Ord.
07-10 § 1; Ord. 19-02 § 5; Ord. 23-07, 9/12/2023)
The remedies provided by this chapter are cumulative and in
addition to any other remedies available at law or in equity.
A. Violations of this chapter are subject to penalty pursuant to Chapters
1.21 and
1.24 of the Temecula Municipal Code.
B. No person
shall intimidate, harass or otherwise retaliate against any person
who seeks to attain compliance with this chapter. Moreover, no person
shall intentionally or recklessly expose another person to secondhand
smoke in response to that person's effort to achieve compliance with
this chapter.
C. Causing,
permitting, aiding, abetting or concealing a violation of any provision
of this chapter is prohibited.
D. A violation
of this chapter is declared to be a public nuisance.
E. In addition
to other remedies provided by this chapter or otherwise available
at law or in equity, any violation of this chapter may be remedied
by a civil action brought by the city, including, without limitation,
administrative or judicial nuisance abatement proceedings, civil or
criminal code enforcement proceedings, and suits for injunctive relief.
(Ord. 07-05 § 1)