By
Jonathan Friedman
Staff Writer
November 11, 2009 -- A group of residents that
successfully lobbied the City Council to ban smoking in
common areas of apartments and condominiums wants the prohibition
expanded to balconies and patios.
Santa Monicans for Non-Smoking Renters Rights also wants
the creation of non-smoking sections for multi-family residential
buildings, including units. And the group says landlords
and condo owners should be forced to disclose smoking and
non-smoking units to potential tenants and buyers.
“When someone smokes on a balcony or patio, the smoke
is pulled into neighboring units because of the difference
in air pressure,” said group member Myra Morris, who
called this “an intrusion.”
A press release issued by the group claims that once secondhand
smoke has drifted into a unit, it attaches to walls, floors,
furniture and rugs and outgases back into the room, even
if no one is smoking. The group looks to an article from
January of this year in the journal Pediatrics as proof
of the existence of what is called “third-hand smoke.”
“If smoke is coming into your unit on a regular basis,
you are at risk for illness,” group member Barbara
Bronie said “Cities have a responsibility to protect
the public’s health.”
The City Council in January approved an ordinance to ban
smoking in all multi-unit residential buildings. In creating
the law, City officials had to weight the rights of non-smokers’
versus the risk of eviction for 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 during
the January meeting. “It’s clear to me that
I have to side with the health impacts.”
According to the law, 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. But the law requires
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.
