Glendale, CA

Last year the city of Glendale, CA, the third largest city in Los Angeles County, adopted an ordinance to regulate smoking in outdoor public areas, including restaurant patios, and including multi-unit housing.

The multi-unit housing section of the ordinance requires no smoking in common areas of apartment buildings inside and outside, identifies tobacco smoke as a nuisance, and requires that landlords disclose to prospective tenants where the smoking and non-smoking units are located. Also, landlords are permitted to adopt no smoking policies for all of their units.

Last night, March 9, 2010,  the Glendale City Council updated their Fresh Air Ordinance as follows for housing: (This was the second reading of the ordinance and it will become effective in 30 days.)

Apartments will be required to have no smoking on balconies and patios. Landlords will be required to create a map or chart of their building which indicates the non smoking units and the smoking permitted units. This will need to be posted in the building and presented to prospective tenants.

Condominiums will be required to have no smoking in common areas inside and outside and on balconies and patios.

Property Owners will be required to post "Smoking Prohibited" signs in areas where smoking is now prohibited.

City Council directed staff to continue an outreach effort to apartment owners to encourage a voluntary effort by property owners to make their properties smoke free, and in the interim, to separate units into smoking and non-smoking sections.

The Council agreed to revisit the ordinance in 6 months and consider again a requirement in the ordinance for creation of smoking and non-smoking units in apartment buildings.

All affordable housing funded by the city is already non-smoking by city ordinance.

Background:

Last year the city of Glendale, CA, the third largest city in Los Angeles County, adopted an ordinance to regulate smoking in outdoor public areas, including restaurant patios, and including multi-unit housing. 

The multi-unit housing section of the ordinance requires no smoking in common areas of apartment buildings inside and outside, identifies tobacco smoke as a nuisance, and requires that landlords disclose to prospective tenants where the smoking and non-smoking units are located. Also, landlords are permitted to adopt no smoking policies for all of their units.

Glendale (and Calabasas) are leading the way in Southern California re regulation of tobacco use in multi-unit housing and they are models for other cities.

Esther Schiller, S.A.F.E. Smokefree Air For Everyone and the
Smokefree Apartment House Registry