Murrieta Municipal Code Ch. 5.23 Smoking Pollution Control

A. The city council finds and declares as follows:

1. Numerous studies have found that tobacco smoke is a major contributor to indoor air pollution;

2. Reliable studies have shown that breathing secondhand smoke and vapor is a significant health hazard for certain population groups, including elderly people, individuals with cardiovascular disease, and individuals with impaired respiratory function, including asthmatics and those with obstructive airway disease;

3. Health hazards induced by breathing secondhand smoke and vapor include lung cancer, respiratory infection, decreased exercise tolerance, decreased respiratory function, bronchoconstriction, and bronchospasm;

4. Nonsmokers with allergies, respiratory diseases and those who suffer other ill effects of breathing secondhand smoke and vapor may experience a loss of job productivity or may be forced to take periodic sick leave because of adverse reactions to same;

5. Numerous studies have shown that a majority of both nonsmokers and smokers desire to have restrictions on smoking in public places and places of employment; and

6. Smoking is a documented cause of fires, and cigarette and cigar burns and ash stains on merchandise and fixtures cause economic losses to businesses.

7. Use of electronic smoking devices has increased significantly in recent years among both youths and adults.

8. Existing studies on electronic smoking devices’ vapor emission and cartridge contents have found a number of dangerous substances including chemicals know to the State of California to cause cancer such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, lead, nickel and chromium; inconsistent labeling of nicotine levels in electronic smoking device products; and other substances that have been linked to negative health effects such as skin, eye and respiratory irritation, neurological effects, damage to reproductive systems and premature death from heart attacks and strokes.

9. The use of electronic smoking devices in smoke free locations threatens to undermine compliance with smoking regulations and reverse the progress that has been made in establishing a social norm that smoking is not permitted in public places and places of employment.

B. Accordingly, the city council finds and declares that the purposes of this chapter are:

1. To protect the public health and welfare by prohibiting smoking in public places except in designated smoking areas, and by regulating smoking in places of employment; and

2. To strike a reasonable balance between the needs of smokers and the need of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air, and to recognize that, where these needs conflict, the need to breathe smoke-free air shall have priority.

3. To facilitate uniform and consistent enforcement of smoke-free air laws.

4. To reduce the potential for re- normalizing smoking in public places and places of employment.

5. To reduce the potential for children to associate the use of electronic smoking devices witha normative or healthy lifestyle.

(Ord. 515 § 1, 2016: Ord. 373 § 2, 2006)

All areas and facilities owned by the city or any other government entity shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 373 § 3, 2006)

The following words and phrases, whenever used in this chapter, shall be construed as defined in this section:

"Bar" means an area that is devoted to the serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption by guests on the premises and in which the service of food is incidental to the consumption of beverages and in which persons younger than 21 years of age are at all times excluded.

"Business" means any sole proprietorship, partnership, 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.

"Dining area" means any area containing a counter or table upon which meals are served or any area designed, established, or regularly used for consuming meals.

“Electronic smoking device” means any product containing or delivering nicotine or any other substance intended for human consumption that can be used by a person to simulate smoking through inhalation of vapor or aerosol from the product. The term includes any such device, whether manufactured, distributed, marketed, or sold as an e-cigarette, e-cigar, e-pipe, e-hookah, or vape pen, or under any other product name or descriptor.

"Employee" means any person who is employed by any employer or hired as an independent contractor in consideration for direct or indirect monetary wages or profit, and any person who volunteers his or her services for a nonprofit entity.

"Employer" means any person, partnership, corporation or nonprofit entity, including a municipal corporation, who employs the services of one or more persons.

"Enclosed" means closed in by roof and four walls with appropriate openings for ingress and egress.

"Nonprofit entity" means any corporation, unincorporated association or other entity created for charitable, educational, political, social or other similar purposes, the net proceeds from the operations of which are committed to the promotion of the objects or purposes of the organization and not to private financial gain. A public agency is not a "nonprofit entity" within the meaning of this section.

"Parks and recreation areas" means any outdoor area, owned and operated by the city of Murrieta, open to the general public for park or open space use, including, but not limited to, public parks, picnic areas, playgrounds, sports or playing fields, open turf areas, athletic courts, swimming pools, public skate park facilities, dog parks, walking paths, gardens, hiking trails, bike paths, wilderness areas, parking areas within a park, and any other areas designated a park by the director of community services.

"Place of employment" means any area under the control of a public or private employer that employees may have cause to enter during the normal course of employment, including, but not limited to, work areas, vehicles, employee lounges and restrooms, conference rooms and classrooms, cafeterias and hallways, except that a private residence is not a place of employment unless it is used as a child care or a health care facility.

"Public place" means any area in which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted, including, but not limited to: banks, educational facilities, health facilities, public transportation facilities, reception areas, restaurants, retail food production and marketing establishments, retail stores, theaters and waiting rooms.

"Reasonable distance" means a distance that insures that occupants of an area in which smoking is prohibited are not exposed to secondhand smoke created by smokers outside the area. Except as provided below, this distance shall be a minimum of 15 feet unless the application of the 15 foot minimum would place the smoker in a potentially unsafe location, in which case a "reasonable distance" shall be a location closer than 15 feet which does not place the smoker in a potentially unsafe location.

"Restaurant" means any coffee shop, cafeteria, tavern, sandwich stand, soda fountain, private or public school cafeteria, and any other eating establishment, organization, club, boardinghouse or guest house, which gives or offers food for sale to the public, guests, patrons, members or employees.

"Retail tobacco store" means a retail store utilized primarily for the sale of tobacco products and accessories.

"Self-service display" means the open display of tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia in a manner that is accessible to the general public without the assistance of the retailer or employee of the retailer.

“Smoking” means inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted or heated cigar, cigarette, or pipe, or any other lighted or heated tobacco or plant product intended for inhalation, including hookahs and marijuana, whether natural or synthetic, in any manner or form. “Smoking” also includes the use of an electronic smoking device which creates an aerosol or vapor, in any manner or in any form, or the use of any oral smoking device for the purpose of circumventing the prohibition of smoking in this chapter.

"Sports arena" means sports parks, pavilions, sporting fields and courts, gymnasiums, health spas, boxing arenas, swimming pools, roller and ice rinks, bowling alleys and other similar places where members of the public assemble to engage in physical exercise, participate in athletic competition, or witness sports events. Adjacent seating areas are included as part of the sports arena.

"Tobacco paraphernalia" means cigarette papers or wrappers, pipes, holders of smoking materials of all types, cigarette rolling machines, and any other item designed for the smoking or ingestion of tobacco products.

"Tobacco product" means:

A. Any substance containing tobacco leaf including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, hookah tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco, bidis, or any other preparation of tobacco; and

B. Any product or formulation of matter containing biologically active amounts of nicotine that is manufactured, sold, offered for sale, or otherwise distributed with the expectation that the product or matter will be introduced into the human body, but does not include any product specifically approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use in treating nicotine or tobacco product dependence.

"Tobacco retailer" means any person who sells, offers for sale, or does or offers to exchange for any form of consideration, tobacco, tobacco products, or tobacco paraphernalia, or who distributes free or low-cost samples of tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia. "Tobacco retailing" shall mean the doing of any of these things. This definition is without regard to the quantity of tobacco, tobacco products, or tobacco paraphernalia sold, offered for sale, exchanged, or offered for exchange.

“Vapor” means aerosol produced from use of an electronic smoking device.

“Vending machine” means a machine, appliance, or other mechanical or electrical device operated by currency, token, debit card, credit card, or any other form of payment, or any other thing representative of value that is designed or used for vending purposes including, but not limited to, machines or devices that use remote control locking mechanisms, which dispenses or releases tobacco products and/or tobacco accessories.

(Ord. 515 § 2, 2016; Ord. 459 § 1, 2011: Ord. 373 § 4, 2006)

A. Smoking shall be prohibited in any enclosed public place, business, restaurant, or place of employment within the city of Murrieta except in the enclosed places identified in California Labor Code Section 6404.5(d), or its successor.

B. Smoking shall be prohibited in the following enclosed places:

1. Common interior areas of multi-unit, multi-residence, or multi-family buildings including, but not limited to, apartments, condominiums, retirement facilities, and nursing homes; and

2. Areas that have a common or shared air space with other enclosed areas in which smoking is prohibited such as, without limitation, air conditioning systems, heating systems, ventilation systems, entries, doorways, hallways, and stairways.

C. Smoking shall be prohibited in the following unenclosed places:

1. Dining areas that are part of a restaurant, business, nonprofit entity, place of employment, or located in any public place;

2. Any parks, recreation areas, sports arenas, and parking lots located in a park or recreation area;

3. Any place where people are using or waiting for a service, entry, or a transaction whether or not such service includes the exchange of money including, but not limited to, ATMs, bank teller windows, telephones, ticket lines, bus stops and cab stands.

4. On the grounds of any public or private elementary or secondary school designated and posted as a "Tobacco Free Zone", tobacco possession shall also be prohibited.

5. Any other location where there is a posting of a "No Smoking" sign which is properly posted as described in this chapter.

D. No person shall provide or place ash receptacles such as, without limitation, ashtrays or ash cans, within an area in which smoking is prohibited, including, without limitation, inside the perimeter of any reasonable smoking distance required by this chapter.

E. Notwithstanding the exception in subsection A. of this section for enclosed places identified in California Labor Code Section 6404.5(d) or its successor, "place of employment" shall include retail or wholesale tobacco shops and private smokers' lounges, as such terms are defined in California Labor Code Section 6404.5(d)(4).

(Ord. 459 § 2, 2011:Ord. 373 § 5, 2006)

A. No employer, business, or nonprofit entity shall knowingly or intentionally permit the smoking of tobacco products in an area which is under the employer's, business', or nonprofit entity's control and in which smoking is prohibited.

B. No employer, business, or nonprofit entity shall knowingly or intentionally permit the presence or placement of ash receptacles, such as, without limitation, ash trays or ash cans, within an area which is under the employer's, business', or nonprofit entity's control and in which smoking is prohibited, including, without limitation, inside the perimeter of any reasonable smoking distance required by this chapter.

C. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, any employer, business, nonprofit entity, or other person who controls any area may declare that any part of such area in which smoking would otherwise be permitted is a nonsmoking area.

(Ord. 373 § 6, 2006)

A. Smoking shall be prohibited within a reasonable distance, as defined in this chapter, from any main entrance into an enclosed area in which smoking is prohibited except while actively passing on the way to another destination and without entering or crossing any area in which smoking is prohibited.

B. Smoking shall be prohibited within a reasonable distance, as defined in this chapter, from any unenclosed area in which smoking is prohibited except while actively passing on the way to another destination and without entering or crossing any area in which smoking is prohibited.

(Ord. 373 § 7, 2006)

A. "Smoking" or "No 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, sufficiently and conspicuously posted in or outside of every building or other place where smoking is controlled by this chapter, by the owner, operator, manager or other person having control of such building or other place. When a sign is posted on the exterior of a building to indicate no smoking, it shall include the distance limitations contained in this chapter.

B. Every theater owner, manager or operator shall conspicuously post signs in the lobby stating that smoking is prohibited within the theater or auditorium, and in the case of motion picture theaters, such information shall be shown upon the screen for at least five seconds prior to the showing of each feature motion picture.

(Ord. 373 § 8, 2006)

No person or employer shall discharge, refuse to hire, or in any manner, retaliate against any employee or applicant for employment because such employee or applicant exercises any rights afforded by this chapter.

(Ord. 373 § 9, 2006)

A. The city manager, or his or her designees, shall engage in a continuing program to explain and clarify the purposes of this chapter to citizens affected by it, and to guide owners, operators and managers in their compliance with it.

B. The city manager, or his or her designees, shall leave the responsibility of conducting a public education campaign regarding the health consequences of smoking to other governmental and health agencies equipped with the needed expertise to conduct such campaigns.

(Ord. 373 § 10, 2006)

The city manager, or his or her designees, shall annually request other governmental and educational agencies having facilities within the city to establish local operating procedures in cooperation and compliance with this chapter. The city manager shall urge federal, state, county and special school district agencies to enforce their existing smoking control regulations and to comply voluntarily with this chapter.

(Ord. 373 § 11, 2006)

A. It is unlawful for any person to display tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia by means of a self-service display or to engage in tobacco retailing by means of a self-service display. Tobacco retailing by means of a vending machine is prohibited by this section.

B. No person shall knowingly distribute or furnish without charge, or cause to be furnished without charge to the general public, cigarettes or other tobacco products, at any event open to the public, or in any public place including but not limited to, any right-of-way, mall or shopping center, school, park, playground and any other district, or any park district, except in retail tobacco stores.

(Ord. 373 § 12, 2006)

This chapter shall not be interpreted or construed to permit smoking where it is otherwise restricted by other applicable laws.

(Ord. 373 § 13, 2006)

A. Enforcement shall be implemented by the city manager, or his or her designees, or any peace officer or code enforcement officer employed by the city of Murrieta.

B. Any citizen who desires to register a complaint hereunder may initiate enforcement with the city manager, or his or her designees.

C. Any owner, manager, operator or employer of any establishment controlled by this chapter shall have the right to inform persons violating this chapter of the appropriate provisions thereof.

D. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, a private citizen may bring legal action to enforce this chapter.

(Ord. 373 § 14, 2006)

A. It is unlawful for any person who owns, manages, operates or otherwise controls the use of any premises subject to the regulation under this chapter to fail to comply with its provisions.

B. It is unlawful for any person to smoke in any area restricted by the provisions of this chapter.

C. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of an infraction and punishable according to Section 1.32.010 of this code.

(Ord. 373 § 15, 2006)

Administrative decisions made by the city manager, or his or her designee, relating to this chapter may be appealed to the city council in accordance with Section 2.28 of this code.

(Ord. 373 § 16, 2006)

If any provision, clause, sentence or paragraph of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions or applications of the provisions of this chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are hereby declared to be severable.

(Ord. 373 § 17, 2006)