Calexico Municipal Code Ch. 8.58 Regulation of Tobacco Use in Workplaces, Parks, Recreation Facilities,…

The purpose of this chapter is to protect the public health and welfare by regulating smoking in public places and places of employment, including specified children areas of parks and all recreation facilities and public transportation, and to recognize the need to breathe clean air. In addition, the city acknowledges where there is conflict between the desires of persons who smoke and the need of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air shall have priority.

(Ord. 991 (part), 2000)

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

A. "Business" means any sole proprietorship, joint venture, corporation or other business entity formed for profit making purposes, including retail establishments where goods or services are sold as well as professional corporations and other entities where legal, medical, dental, engineering, architectural or other professional services are delivered.

B. "Bar" means an area in which the serving of food is only incidental to the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The term "bar" shall not include an adjacent restaurant dining area when meals are being served.

C. "City" means the city of Calexico.

D. "Dining area" means any enclosed area containing a counter or tables upon which meals are served.

E. "Employee" means any person who is employed by any employer in consideration for direct or indirect wages or profit, and any person who volunteers his or her services for a non-profit entity.

F. "Employer" means any person, business, or non-profit entity which employs the services of one or more persons, and includes the city of Calexico.

G. "Enclosed" means closed in by a roof and four or more connected, floor-to-ceiling walls with appropriate openings for ingress and egress.

H. "Mall" means any enclosed public walkway or hall area which serves to connect retail or professional establishments.

I. "Non-profit entity" means any corporation, unincorporated association or other entity created for charitable, philanthropic, educational, character building, political, social or other similar purposes, the net proceeds from the operations of which are not for private financial gain. A public agency is not a "non-profit entity" within the meaning of this chapter.

J. "Parking garages" means an enclosed garage where members of the general public park their cars.

K. "Person" shall mean any individual, partnership, cooperative association, private corporation, personal representative, receiver, trustee, assignee, or any other legal entity.

L. "Private function" means a gathering of persons for the purpose of deliberation, education, instruction, entertainment, amusement, or dining where membership or specific invitation is a prerequisite to entry and where such event is not intended for attendance by the public.

M. "Public area" means any area to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted but shall exclude public sidewalks except where such places are otherwise included herein.

N. "Restaurant" means any eating establishment, organization, club, boardinghouse or guesthouse which gives or offers for sale food to the public, guests, patrons, or employees as well as kitchens in which food is prepared on the premises for serving elsewhere, including catering functions, except that the term "restaurant" shall not include bar.

O. "Service line' means any indoor line at which one or more persons are waiting for or receiving service of any kind, whether or not such service involves the exchange of money.

P. "Smoking" means inhaling, exhaling, burning or carrying any lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, weed, plant or other combustible substance in any manner or in any form.

Q. "Sports arena" means an enclosed sports pavilion, gymnasium, health spa, boxing arena, swimming pool, roller and ice rink, bowling alley and other similar places where members of the general public assemble to either engage in physical exercise, participate in athletic competition or witness sports events.

R. "Tobacco product" means any nicotine-delivery device or substance including but not limited to cigarettes, chew/dip, cigars, beedies, pipes, or paste which may be utilized for smoking, chewing, inhaling, or other manner of ingestion.

S. "Work area" or "workplace" means any area of a place of employment enclosed by floor to ceiling walls in which two or more employees are assigned to perform work for an employer.

(Ord. 991 (part), 2001)

A. Smoking shall be prohibited within twenty feet in the following public places and other public places similarly situated, including, but not limited to, the following areas:

1. All enclosed areas available to and customarily used by the general public and all areas of business establishments generally accessible to the public, including, but not limited to, the public area of retail stores, banks, and other offices.

2. Elevators, escalators, and stairways.

3. Public restrooms.

4. Service lines.

5. Buses and other means of public transit directly provided by or provided under contract to the city of Calexico.

6. All reception and waiting areas.

7. Galleries, libraries, and museums.

8. Within any facility which is primarily used for, or designed for the primary purpose of exhibiting any motion picture, stage drama, lecture, musical recital or other similar performance, except when smoking is part of a stage production.

9. Sports arenas and convention halls.

10. Video arcades, bingo parlors, dance halls, and other amusement centers.

11. Child day care facilities as defined in the California Health and Safety Code and private residences while used as a family day care home.

12. Rooms, chambers, or other enclosed areas where a meeting is being held which is attended by the general public.

13. Retail food-marketing establishments, including grocery stores and supermarkets.

14. Restaurants.

15. Restaurant-bar combinations.

16. Laundromats.

17. Beauty shop and barber shops

18. Common areas in apartment buildings, retirement facilities, and nursing homes.

19. Malls.

20. Polling places.

21. Enclosed areas which share the air space—including, but not limited to, air conditioning, heating, or other ventilation systems, entries, doorways, hallways, and stairways—with other enclosed areas in which smoking is prohibited.

B. Within thirty days of the effective date of this article, each park and/or recreation facility within the city, shall adopt, implement, and make known and maintain a written tobacco-free policy that provides, at a minimum, the following:

1. Use of tobacco products shall be prohibited within twenty feet of any public recreation facility, pool, sandbox, "tot-lot," court, course, track, field, or sports arena.

2. Smoking areas shall not be maintained, installed, or established under this provision.

3. Smoking shall not be allowed at public events including but not limited to sports events, entertainment, speaking performances, ceremonies.

4. Smoking shall not be allowed near seating provided by eating establishments.

5. Smoking shall not be allowed in entrances and exits to enclosed public areas.

6. Smoking shall not be allowed within the entryway of any enclosed public area.

7. Smoking shall not be allowed in stairways

8. Smoking shall not be allowed in any place where food and/or drink are offered for sale.

9. Smoking shall not be allowed in children's play areas.

C. Regulation of smoking in places of employment.

1. Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed facilities within a place of employment that includes common work areas, auditoriums, classrooms, conference and meeting rooms, elevators, hallways, medical facilities, cafeterias, employee lounges, stairs, restrooms, and all other enclosed facilities that are shared with other employees or with the general public.

2. The smoking policy shall be communicated to all employees within three weeks of its adoption.

(Ord. 991 (part), 2000)

A. No person or employee shall discharge, refuse to hire or in any manner retaliate against any employee or applicant for employment because such employee or applicant agrees to abide by the provisions of this ordinance.

B. No person shall intimidate or threaten any reprisal of effect for the purpose of retaliating against another person because such other person seeks to attain compliance with provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 991 (part), 2000)

A. Indoor Sign Requirements. "Smoking" or "Non-Smoking" signs whichever are appropriate, with letters of not less than one inch in height, 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) shall be clearly posted at or near all entrances and sufficiently and conspicuously posted at other appropriate locations in every building or other place where smoking is regulated by this chapter by the owner, operator, manager or other person having control of such building or other place. Signs, which have been removed, shall be replaced within five working days.

B. Outdoor sign requirements. No smoking signs with letters of not less than one inch in height, 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) shall be clearly, sufficiently and conspicuously posted at or near the entry in every building or other place where smoking is regulated by this chapter by the owner, operator, manager or other person having control of such building or other place and in every outdoor area.

(Ord. 991 (part), 2001)

Every theater owner, manager or operator shall post signs conspicuously in the lobby stating that smoking is prohibited within the theater or auditorium.

(Ord. 991 (part), 2001)

A. Any person, business or tobacco retailer who violates any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be guilty of an infraction and shall be punishable by (1) a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for a first violation; (2) a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars for a second violation of the same ordinance within one year; (3) a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year.

B. The owner, operator or manager of any public place or place of employment within the purview of this chapter shall comply herewith. Such owner, operator or manager shall post or cause to be posted all signage required by this chapter.

C. It shall be the responsibility of employers to disseminate information concerning the provisions of this chapter to employees.

(Ord. 991 (part), 2001)

If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.

(Ord. 991 (part), 2001)