(A) Authority. This section is enacted pursuant to G.S. § 130A-498 and § 160A-174(a).
(B) Definitions. The following definitions are applicable to this section.
(1) "CITY BUILDING." A building owned, leased as lessor, or the area leased as lessee and occupied by the city.
(2) "EMPLOYEE." A person who is employed by the City of Albemarle, or who contracts with the city or a third person to perform services for the city, or who otherwise performs services for the city with or without compensation.
(3) "GROUNDS." An unenclosed area owned, leased, or occupied by the city.
(4) "LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT." The District Health Department, Public Health Authority, or County Health Department, the jurisdiction of which includes the city.
(5) "PARKS SYSTEM." Any tract of land or body of water comprising part of the city's parks, playgrounds, natural areas, recreation areas, trails and greenways, and streams or other bodies of water.
(6) "UNIVERSAL 'NO SMOKING AND USE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS PROHIBITED' SYMBOL." Symbol consisting of a pictorial representation of a burning cigarette and a tobacco product enclosed in a red circle with a red bar across it.
(7) "SMOKING." The use or possession of a lighted cigarette, lighted cigar, lighted pipe, or any other lighted tobacco product.
(8) "TOBACCO PRODUCT." Any product containing, made, or derived from tobacco that is intended for human consumption, whether chewed, smoked, absorbed, dissolved, inhaled, snorted, sniffed, or ingested by any other means, or any component part or accessory of a tobacco product, including but not limited to cigarettes; cigars; little cigar; cheroots; stogies; periques; granulate, plug cut, crimp cut, ready rubbed, and other smoking tobacco; snuff; snuff flour, Cavendish; plug and twist tobacco; fine-cut and other chewing tobacco; shorts, refuse scraps, clippings, cutting and sweepings of tobacco; and other kinds and forms of tobacco. A tobacco product excludes any product that has been approved by the Unties States Food and Drug Administration for sale as a tobacco cessation product, as a tobacco dependence product, or for other medical purposes, and is being marketed and sold solely for such an approved purpose.
(C) Areas in which smoking and tobacco products are prohibited.
(1) Smoking and the use of tobacco products are prohibited:
(a) On city grounds of the city's parks system.
(b) In city buildings located in the city's parks system.
(2) Smoking and the use of tobacco products are prohibited on grounds of the city's parks system and in buildings located in the city's parks system being used for private events.
(D) Implementation requirements.
(1) The city shall post signs that meet all the requirements in division (E) of this seciton.
(2) The city shall remove all ashtrays and other smoking receptacles from the grounds of city's parks system and the buildings located in the city's park systems.
(3) The person in charge of the grounds of the city's parks system or the buildings located in the city's parks system, or his or her designee, shall direct a person who is smoking or using a tobacco product in a prohibited are to cease and, if the person does not comply, shall contact the city Police Department.
(E) Signage. The signs required by division (D) must:
(1) State in English that smoking and the use of tobacco products are prohibited and include the universal "No Smoking and Use of Tobacco Products Prohibited" symbol.
(2) Be of sufficient size to be clearly legible to a person of normal vision, and be conspicuously posted.
(3) Be posted at each entrance of the buildings located in the city's parks system and in other locations within the buildings reasonable calculated to inform employees and the public of the prohibition.
(4) Be posted on the grounds of the city's parks system in locations and at intervals reasonably calculated to inform employees and the public of the prohibition.
(F) Enforcement and penalties.
(1) Penalty for violation. Following oral or written notice by the person in charge of an area described in division (C), or his or her designee, failure to cease smoking or using tobacco products constitutes an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than $50. A citation may be issued by a sworn law enforcement officer. Conviction of an infraction under this section has no consequence other than payment of a penalty, and no court costs may be assessed.
(2) Additional sanctions for employees. In addition to any penalty under division (F)(1), employees of the city who violate this seciton shall be subject to disciplinary action consistent with the city's human resources policy.
(G) Public education. The City of Albemarle shall engage in an ongoing program to explain and clarify the purposes and requirements of this section to employees and citizens affected by it, and to guide operators and managers in their compliance with it. In doing so, the City of Albemarle may rely upon materials and information provided by the local health department.
(H) Severability; conflict of laws and numbering. If this section or application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or application of the ordinance that can be given separate effect and to that end the provisions of this section are declared to be severable. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with this section are hereby repealed.
(Ord. 12-26, passed 8-6-12)