San Fernando Municipal Code Ch. 23 Outdoor Smoking Regulations

Footnotes:

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Cross reference— Tobacco retailing, § 22-430 et seq.; environment, ch. 34; health and sanitation, ch. 42; smoking prohibited in parks, playgrounds and recreation centers, § 54-27.

The following words and phrases, whenever used in this chapter shall have the meanings defined in this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

Business means any sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation, association, or other entity formed for profit-making purposes.

Dining area means any area, including streets and sidewalks, which is available to or customarily used by the general public or an employee, and which is designed, established, or regularly used for consuming food or drink.

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

Employer means any business or nonprofit entity that retains the service of one or more employees.

Enclosed area means an area in which outside air cannot circulate freely to all parts of the area, and includes an area that has:

(1) Any type of overhead cover whether or not that cover includes vents or other openings and at least three walls or other vertical boundaries of any height whether or not those boundaries include vents or other openings; or

(2) Four walls or other vertical boundaries that exceed six feet in height whether or not those boundaries include vents or other openings.

Grounds shall include, without limitation, landscaped areas, patios, stairways, walls, parking lots, and walkways on publicly owned property adjacent to the San Fernando Plaza and San Fernando Library Plaza.

Nicotine means a toxic colorless or yellowish oily liquid that is the chief active constituent of tobacco.

Nonprofit entity means any entity that meets the requirements of California Corporations Code section 5003 as well as any corporation, unincorporated association or other entity created for charitable, religious, philanthropic, educational, political, social or similar purposes, the net proceeds of which are committed to the promotion of the objectives or purposes of the entity and not to private gain. A government agency is not a nonprofit entity within the meaning of this chapter.

Person means any natural person, business, cooperative association, nonprofit entity, personal representative, receiver, trustee, assignee, or any other legal entity including government agencies.

Place of employment means any area under the legal or de facto control of an employer, that an employee or the general public may have cause to enter in the normal course of the operations, regardless of the hours of operation.

Public place means any place, publicly or privately owned, which is open to the general public regardless of any fee or age requirement.

Reasonable distance means a distance of 25 feet in any direction from an area in which smoking is prohibited.

Recreational area means any area, including streets and sidewalks, that is publicly or privately owned /owned, controlled or used by the city and open to the general public for recreational purposes, regardless of any fee or age requirement. The term "recreational area" includes but is not limited to parks, picnic areas, playgrounds, sports fields, golf courses, walking paths, gardens, hiking trails, bike paths, riding trails, swimming pools, roller- and ice-skating rinks, skateboard parks, amusement parks, and beaches.

Service area means any publicly or privately owned area, including streets and sidewalks, that is designed to be used or is regularly used by one or more persons to receive a service, wait to receive a service or to make a transaction, whether or not such service or transaction includes the exchange of money. The term "service area" includes but is not limited to areas including or adjacent to information kiosks, automatic teller machines (ATMs), ticket lines, bus stops or shelters, mobile vendor lines or cab stands.

Smoke means the gases, particles, or vapors released into the air as a result of combustion, electrical ignition or vaporization, when the apparent or usual purpose of the combustion, electrical ignition or vaporization is human inhalation of the byproducts, except when the combusting material contains no tobacco or nicotine and the purpose of inhalation is solely olfactory, such as, for example, smoke from incense. The term "smoke" includes, but is not limited to, tobacco smoke, electronic cigarette vapors, and marijuana smoke.

Smoking means engaging in an act that generates smoke, such as, for example: possessing a lighted pipe, a lighted hookah pipe, an operating electronic cigarette, a lighted cigar, or a lighted cigarette of any kind; or lighting or igniting a pipe, a hookah pipe, a cigar, or a cigarette of any kind.

Tobacco product means any substance containing tobacco leaf, and 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 a human body, but does not include any cessation product specifically approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use in treating nicotine or tobacco dependence.

Unenclosed area means any area that is not an enclosed area.

Vaping means to inhale and exhale the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device, such as, for example: mini E-cigarettes, Gig-A-likes, mid-sized vaporizers, vape pens, and mods.

(Ord. No. 1623, § 1, 9-4-2012; Ord. No. 1672, § 1, 2-20-2018)

(a) All forms of vaping, smoking and the use of tobacco products is prohibited in the unenclosed areas of the following places within the city, except places where smoking or the use of tobacco products is already prohibited by state or federal law, in which case those laws apply:

(1) Recreational areas;

(2) Service areas;

(3) Dining areas;

(4) Places of employment;

(5) Other public places, when being used for a public event, including but not limited to a farmers' market, parade, craft fair, festival, or any other event which may be attended by the general public, provided that smoking is permitted on streets and sidewalks being used only in a traditional capacity as pedestrian or vehicular thoroughfares, unless otherwise prohibited by this chapter or other law.

(b) Nothing in this chapter prohibits any person, employer, or nonprofit entity with legal control over any property from prohibiting vaping, smoking and tobacco product use on any part of such property, even if vaping, smoking or the use of tobacco products is not otherwise prohibited in that area.

(Ord. No. 1623, § 1, 9-4-2012; Ord. No. 1672, § 1, 2-20-2018)

(a) Vaping, smoking and the use of tabaco products in all unenclosed areas shall be prohibited within a reasonable distance from any doorway, window, opening, crack, or vent into an enclosed area in which vaping and smoking is prohibited, except while the person smoking or vaping is actively passing on the way to another destination and provided smoke does not enter any enclosed area in which smoking is prohibited.

(b) Vaping, smoking and the use of tobacco products in unenclosed areas shall be prohibited within a reasonable distance from any unenclosed areas in which smoking is prohibited under sec. 23-2 of this chapter, except while the person smoking is actively passing on the way to another destination and provided smoke does not enter any unenclosed area in which smoking is prohibited.

(Ord. No. 1623, § 1, 9-4-2012; Ord. No. 1672, § 1, 2-20-2018)

(a) No person, employer, or nonprofit entity shall knowingly permit vaping, smoking or the use of tobacco products in an area which is under the legal or de facto control of that person, employer or nonprofit entity and in which vaping, smoking or the use of tobacco products is prohibited by law, unless otherwise required by state or federal law.

(b) No person, employer, or nonprofit entity shall knowingly or intentionally permit the presence or placement of ash receptacles, such as, for example, ash trays or ash cans, within an area under the legal or de facto control of that person, employer or nonprofit entity and in which vaping, smoking or the use of tobacco products is prohibited by law, including, without limitation, within a reasonable distance required by this chapter from any area in which vaping, smoking or the use of tobacco products is prohibited. notwithstanding the foregoing, the presence of ash receptacles in violation of this subsection shall not be a defense to a charge of vaping, smoking or the use of tobacco products in violation of any provision of this chapter.

(c) No person shall dispose of used vaping, smoking or tobacco product waste within the boundaries of an area in which vaping and smoking is prohibited, including within any reasonable distance required by this chapter.

(d) A person, employer, or nonprofit entity that has legal or de facto control of an unenclosed area in which vaping, smoking or the use of tobacco products is prohibited by this chapter shall post a clear, conspicuous and unambiguous "no smoking no vaping" or no use of tobacco products or "smokefree" or "tobacco-free" sign at each point of ingress to the area, and in at least one other conspicuous point within the area. The signs shall have letters of no less than one inch in height and shall include the international "no smoking no vaping" symbol (consisting of a pictorial representation of a burning cigarette and e-cigarette enclosed in a red circle with a red bar across it). Signs posted on the exterior of buildings to comply with this section shall include the reasonable distance requirement set forth in section 23-3. For purposes of this section, the city administrator or his/her designee shall be responsible for the posting of signs in regulated facilities owned or leased in whole or in part by the city. Notwithstanding this provision, the presence or absence of signs shall not be a defense to a charge of vaping, smoking or the use of tobacco products in violation of any other provision of this chapter.

(e) No person, employer, or nonprofit entity shall intimidate, threaten any reprisal, or effect any reprisal, for the purpose of retaliating against another person who seeks to attain compliance with this chapter.

(f) Each instance of vaping, smoking or tobacco product use in violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate violation. For violations other than for vaping or smoking, each day of a continuing violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate violation.

(Ord. No. 1623, § 1, 9-4-2012; Ord. No. 1672, § 1, 2-20-2018)

(a) The remedies provided by this chapter are cumulative and in addition to any other remedies available at law or in equity.

(b) Each incident of vaping, smoking or use of tobacco products in violation of this chapter is an infraction subject chapter 1, articles II and III of the City Code. Other violations of this chapter may, in the discretion of the city attorney, be prosecuted as infractions when the interests of justice so requires. Enforcement of this chapter shall be the responsibility of city administrator or his/her designee. In addition, any peace officer or code enforcement official also may enforce this chapter.

(c) Any violation of this chapter is hereby declared to be a nuisance.

(d) In addition to other remedies provided by this chapter or by other law, any violation of this chapter may be remedied by a civil action brought by the city attorney, including, but not limited to, administrative or judicial nuisance abatement proceedings, civil or criminal code enforcement proceedings, and suits for injunctive relief.

(Ord. No. 1623, § 1, 9-4-2012; Ord. No. 1672, § 1, 2-20-2018)