Calexico Municipal Code Ch. 8.47 Hookah Parlors Prohibited

The city council finds that substantial scientific evidence exists that the use of tobacco products causes cancer, heart disease, and various other medical diseases. The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke and that neither separating smokers from nonsmokers nor installing ventilation systems effectively eliminates secondhand smoke. 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. The California Air Resources Board has put secondhand smoke in the same category as the most toxic automotive and industrial air pollutants by categorizing it as a toxic air contaminant. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has included secondhand smoke on the Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, and other reproductive harm. In addition, the city council also finds that the operation of hookah parlors is associated with increases in noise, loitering, public drinking, dangerous behavior of tobacco use and smoking, and underage drinking. Accordingly, the city council finds and declares that it is in the public interest to prohibit hookah parlors in all zones throughout the city. In order to serve the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents and businesses within the city, the declared purpose of this chapter is to prohibit hookah parlors in all zones whether operating as a primary or accessory use.

(Ord. No. 1162, § 1, 9-16-15)

For the purposes of this chapter, the following words are defined:

"Accessory use" shall have the same meaning as "accessory use" as defined in Section 17.01.900.

"Hookah parlor" shall mean any business, establishment, facility, or location whose business operation, whether as its primary use or accessory use, is denoted by the smoking of tobacco or other substances through one or more pipes (commonly known as a hookah, waterpipe, shisha, or narghile) designed with a tube passing through an urn of water that cools the smoke as it is drawn through it, including but not limited to establishments known variously as hookah bars, hookah lounges, or hookah cafes.

"Hookah pipe" shall mean a water pipe, bong, hookah, or similar device through which a person can cause tobacco or another lawful substance to combust and then pass through the air, gas, or a liquid before it is inhaled by a person using the device. A hookah pipe does not include cigarettes, cigars, or a device where:

A. The smoke is inhaled without passing through the air, gas, or a liquid, or

B. The length of any pipe or tube used for inhaling the smoke is not more than ten inches.

"Primary use" shall mean a use that is not an accessory use.

(Ord. No. 1162, § 1, 9-16-15)

It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to own, manage, conduct, or operate any hookah parlor, or to participate as an employee, contractor, agent, or volunteer, or in any other manner or capacity, in any hookah parlor in the city. Hookah parlors are prohibited in all zones whether operating as a primary use or accessory use.

(Ord. No. 1162, § 1, 9-16-15)