Long Beach Municipal Code Ch. 5.88 Smoking Lounges

The City Council finds that a regulatory process is necessary for reviewing, approving and enforcing related business and public health codes for smoking lounges as defined in this Chapter. It is the intent of this Chapter to establish regulatory provisions that allow the City or such persons as the City may designate to regulate smoking lounges operating in the City. The issuance of any smoking lounge permit under this Chapter shall not be deemed permission or authorization for a business to operate in any manner otherwise prohibited by local, State or federal law.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

The following words as used in this Chapter shall have the meanings set forth in this Section unless otherwise clearly apparent from the context:

A. "Director of Financial Management" means the Director of Financial Management of the City of Long Beach, or his or her designee.

B. "Food" means any raw, cooked or processed edible article, substance, ice, beverage or ingredient, used or intended to be used in whole or in part as food, drink, liquor, confection or condiment for human consumption.

C. "Health Officer" means and includes the Health Officer of the City of Long Beach, his/her deputy, or other designated officer.

D. "Smoke" or "smoking" means the carrying or holding of a lighted pipe, lighted cigar, hookah, or lighted cigarette of any kind, including, but not limited to, tobacco or any other weed or plant.

E. "Smoking lounge" means any business establishment that is dedicated to the smoking of tobacco products, including, but not limited to, establishments known variously as cigar lounges, hookah lounges or tobacco clubs. For purposes of this Chapter, "smoking lounge" means private smokers' lounge as defined in California Labor Code § 6404.5.

F. "Tobacco product" means any substance containing tobacco leaf, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco, bidis (or beedies), hookah, or any other preparation of tobacco.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

No person shall operate any smoking lounge without first complying with the provisions of this Chapter regulating such businesses. Owners and operators of smoking lounges shall adequately inform their workers and employees of all smoking laws and regulations, and shall ensure that workers and employees comply with the provisions of this Chapter. Such owners and operators shall be held responsible for violations of their workers and employees.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

No person shall engage in, operate, conduct, carry on or allow to be carried on, the business of a smoking lounge in the City without first having obtained, for each separate smoking lounge or place of business where indoor smoking is to occur, a business license as prescribed by the provisions of Chapter 3.80, a tobacco retail permit as provided in Chapter 5.81, and a smoking lounge permit as provided in this Chapter.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

A. Any person desiring a permit required by this Chapter to carry on or conduct the business of a smoking lounge in the City shall, for each separate smoking lounge or place of business where indoor smoking is to occur, complete and file an application on forms provided by the Director of Financial Management. Such application forms shall require information including the name, address and telephone number of the applicant, the business name ("doing business as" (dba), if any) and location of the smoking lounge or place of business where indoor smoking is to occur, a brief description of the nature of the business, products to be sold, and such other and further information deemed pertinent by the Director of Financial Management, the Health Officer, or any concerned City department, to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Chapter and other applicable laws.

1. The person whose signature appears on the application shall attest that they are a duly authorized representative of the applicant and that the information contained in the application is true and correct.

2. The application shall be filed under penalty of perjury. False statements therein will constitute grounds for denial, or revocation as applicable.

3. An incomplete application shall not be accepted for processing.

4. A nonrefundable investigation fee, as adopted by the City Council by resolution, shall be paid to the City at the time the application is filed.

B. On receipt of a completed smoking lounge permit application, the Director of Financial Management shall refer the application to all concerned City departments for investigation. Such departments shall file a report providing recommendations regarding the approval or denial of the permit with the Director of Financial Management within sixty (60) calendar days after the completed application is filed, except where circumstances beyond the control of the City justifiably delay such response.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

A. The Director of Financial Management shall make or cause to be made an investigation of the place of business and the manner in which the smoking lounge is to be conducted, and if it is found that all provisions of this Code and all applicable laws have been and will be complied with, the Director of Financial Management shall issue the smoking lounge permit; otherwise, the application for a smoking lounge permit shall be denied.

B. Such smoking lounge permits shall be good for one (1) year and shall be automatically renewed every year, provided that the Director of Financial Management determines that the permit holder has complied with the provisions of this Chapter and applicable laws during the preceding permit term.

C. Permittees must notify the Director of Financial Management in writing if structural modifications are planned to be made to a smoking lounge for which a permit has been issued under this Chapter. Prior to making any structural modifications to a smoking lounge, in whole or in part, the permittee shall submit plans and specifications to the Director of Financial Management for approval. The Director of Financial Management shall refer the plans and specifications to all concerned City departments for review and inspection, as appropriate. Such departments shall file a report providing recommendations regarding the approval or denial of the structural modifications with the Director of Financial Management within thirty (30) calendar days after the plans and specifications are submitted, except where circumstances beyond the control of the City justifiably delay such response.

(ORD-11-0008, § 2, 2011; ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

A. The maximum number of smoking lounge permits issued by the City and in effect at any given time shall not exceed eight (8) permits.

B. A smoking lounge permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall become null and void upon the cessation of the business operations and/or the relocation of the business to a different property. All smoking lounge permit holders must notify the Director of Financial Management in writing of any discontinuance of business operations, change in ownership, change in business location, or change in the business name.

C. Any smoking lounge permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall not be transferable or assignable from one owner or operator to another, or from one location to another location. If the information required in the permit application changes, a new smoking lounge permit is required before the business may continue to operate as a smoking lounge. For example, if an owner or operator to whom a permit has been issued changes business location, that owner or operator must apply for a new permit prior to operating a smoking lounge at the new location. Or if the business is sold or otherwise has a change in ownership, the new owner must apply for a new permit for that location before the business may operate as a smoking lounge.

(ORD-13-0017, § 2, 2013; ORD-11-0008, § 3, 2011)

Every applicant for a smoking lounge permit under this Chapter shall pay to the City, before a permit is issued, an annual fee as adopted by the City Council by resolution. All fees are nonrefundable; therefore, in the event that any permit issued pursuant to this Chapter is suspended or revoked, or because the permittee no longer owns or operates the smoking lounge, no portion of a permit fee paid by such permittee shall be refunded.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

A. The Director of Financial Management, the Health Officer and representatives of concerned City departments are empowered to enter any smoking lounge, or other place of business where indoor smoking occurs or is suspected of occurring, at any time for the purpose of inspection, including the taking of photographs, samples or other evidence that is plainly visible, and to enforce any of the provisions of this Chapter, or of any applicable law, rule or regulation governing such places in the City.

B. No person shall refuse to permit or allow the Director of Financial Management, the Health Officer, any authorized inspector, or any representatives of concerned City departments, to enter or inspect or examine any portion of any smoking lounge or other place of business where indoor smoking occurs. No person shall interfere with, hinder, or harass, in any manner any City representative in the inspection or the examination of such smoking lounge or other place of business where indoor smoking occurs.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

A. If a City department determines that the applicant does not satisfy applicable requirements of this Chapter, the Director of Financial Management shall deny said permit application in accordance with the provisions set forth in Subsection 5.06.020.A, of this Code.

B. If a City department determines that the permittee failed to comply with any provision of this Chapter, or with any other provision or requirement of law, the Director of Financial Management shall revoke or suspend the smoking lounge permit in accordance with the provisions set forth in Subsection 5.06.020.A, of this Code.

C. The Director of Financial Management shall notify the applicant of a rejected application, or the permittee of the permit revocation or suspension by dated written notice. Said notice shall advise the applicant or permittee of the right to appeal the decision to the City Council. The request for appeal shall be in writing, shall set forth the specific ground(s) on which it is based and shall be submitted to the Director of Financial Management within ten (10) calendar days from the date the written notice was mailed along with an appeal deposit in an amount determined by the City Council by resolution.

D. The City Council shall conduct a hearing on the appeal or refer the matter to a hearing officer, pursuant to Chapter 2.93 of this Code, within thirty (30) business days from the date the completed request for appeal was received by the Director of Financial Management, except where good cause exists to extend this period. The appellant shall be given at least ten (10) business days' written notice of such hearing. The hearing and rules of evidence shall be conducted pursuant to Chapter 2.93 of this Code. The determination of the City Council on the appeal shall be final.

E. Whenever a smoking lounge permit application has been denied or a smoking lounge permit has been revoked, no other such permit application shall be considered for a period of one (1) year from either the date notice of the denial, or revocation was mailed or the date of the final decision of the City Council, whichever is later.

F. Notwithstanding any other provisions in this Chapter, in the event that a tobacco retail permit is suspended, denied or revoked, the smoking lounge permit shall at the same time be suspended, denied or revoked.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

City business license, tobacco retail permit and smoking lounge permit shall be prominently displayed in each smoking lounge.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

A. A "Proposition 65" warning sign regarding exposure to tobacco smoke, supplied by the Health and Human Services Department, must be posted at each entrance to a smoking lounge.

B. A smoking hazard sign, supplied by the Health and Human Services Department, must be posted at each entrance to a smoking lounge.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

A. No persons under eighteen (18) years of age shall be permitted within the smoking lounge at any time.

B. A warning sign must be posted at each entrance to a smoking lounge, and conspicuously posted in a place that can be clearly seen by the public, stating that persons under eighteen (18) years of age are prohibited.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

No person shall receive for sale, sell, offer for sale, keep for sale, have in such person's possession with intent to sell, any food or beverages in the smoking lounge. All places where food or beverages are kept or suspected of being kept shall be subject at all times to inspection by the Health Officer, other officers or City representative appointed for that purpose, and such persons are authorized to enter and inspect all such places.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

The permittee of a smoking lounge permit shall minimize the intrusion of drifting tobacco smoke and other adverse impacts on businesses in the vicinity of the smoking lounge and areas where smoking is not permitted. Exhaust air from the smoking lounge shall be exhausted directly to the outside by an exhaust fan and shall not be recirculated to other parts of the building. The ventilation and exhaust system shall conform to the latest edition of the California Mechanical Code and California Building Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Nonresidential Buildings, as adopted and amended by Chapter 18.36 of the Long Beach Municipal Code, or as otherwise required by applicable State or federal laws.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

Any business establishment operating as a smoking lounge under an existing business license on the effective date of this Chapter shall be brought into full compliance with the provisions of this Chapter, not later than ninety (90) days following the effective date of this Chapter.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Chapter, or its application to any person or circumstance, is for any reason held to be invalid or unenforceable, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the validity of enforceability of the remaining sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases of this Chapter, or its application to any other person or circumstance. The City of Long Beach declares that it would have adopted each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one (1) or more sections, subsections, subdivisions paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases hereof be declared invalid or unenforceable.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)

Any violation of the terms and conditions of a smoking lounge permit, of this Chapter, or of applicable local, state or federal regulations and laws shall be grounds for permit denial, suspension or revocation. Each day a violation exists constitutes a separate and distinct offense. Suspension or revocation of the permit shall be governed by the provisions of this Chapter, and criminal penalties may be assessed under Chapter 1.32 of this Code.

(ORD-09-0038, § 3, 2009)