8.24.040 Prohibition of smoking in enclosed places.

   Smoking shall be prohibited in the following places within the city:

   A.   All enclosed areas available to and customarily used by the general public and all businesses patronized by the public, including, but not limited to, retail stores, hotels and motels, pharmacies, banks, attorneys' offices and other offices;

   B.   Within all restaurants having a seating capacity of fifty or more persons; provided, however, that this prohibition does not prevent:

      1.   The designating of a contiguous area within the restaurant that contains no more than fifty percent of the seating capacity of the restaurant as a smoking area, or

      2.   The providing of separate rooms designated as smoking rooms, so long as said rooms do not contain more than fifty percent of the seating capacity of the restaurant;

   C.   Waiting rooms, hallways, wards, and semi-private rooms of health facilities, including, but not limited to hospitals, clinics, physical therapy facilities, doctors' offices and dentists’ offices, except that health facilities shall also be subject to the provisions of Section 8.24.050 of this chapter regulating smoking in places of employment;

   D.   Elevators, public restrooms, indoor service lines, buses, taxicabs and other means of public transit under the authority of the city, and in ticket, boarding, and waiting areas of public transit depots; provided, however, that this prohibition does not prevent:

      1.   The establishment of separate waiting area for smokers and nonsmokers, or

      2.   The establishment of at least fifty percent of a given waiting area as a nonsmoking area;

   E.   In public areas of museums, galleries;

   F.   Enclosed theaters, auditoriums, and halls which are used for motion pictures, stage dramas and musical performances, ballets or other exhibitions, except when smoking is part of any such production and where specific smoking areas have been established in lobbies;

   G.   Retail food marketing establishments, including grocery stores and supermarkets, except those areas of such establishment set aside for the serving of food and drink, restrooms and offices, and areas thereof not open to the public, which may be otherwise regulated by this chapter;

   H.   Public schools and other public facilities under the control of another public agency, which are available to and customarily used by the general public, to the extent that the same are subject to the jurisdiction of the city;

   I.   Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any owner, operator, manager or other person who controls any establishment described in this section may declare that entire establishment is a nonsmoking establishment.

(Ord. 563, 1990).

8.24.050 Regulation of smoking in places of employment.

   A.   It shall be the responsibility of employers to provide smoke-free areas for nonsmokers within existing facilities to the maximum extent possible, but employers are not required to incur any expense to make structural or other physical modifications in providing these areas.

   B.   Within ninety (90) days of the effective date of this chapter, each employer and each place of employment located within the city shall adopt, implement, make known and maintain a written smoking policy, which shall contain at a minimum the following requirements:

      1.   Prohibition of smoking in conference and meeting rooms, classrooms, auditoriums, restrooms, medical facilities, hallways, and elevators;

      2.   Any employee in a place of employment shall be given the right to designate his or her immediate work area as a nonsmoking area and to post the same with an appropriate sign or signs, to be provided by the employer. The policy adopted by the employer shall include a reasonable definition of the term "immediate work area."

         a.   In any dispute arising under this smoking policy, the rights of the nonsmoker shall be given precedence.

         b.   Provision and maintenance of a separate and contiguous nonsmoking area of not less than fifty percent of the seating capacity and floor space in cafeterias, lunchrooms and employee lounges.

         c.   The smoking policy shall be communicated to all employees within three weeks of its adoption, and at least annually thereafter.

         d.   Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this subsection, every employer shall have the right to designate any place of employment, or portion thereof, as a nonsmoking area.

(Ord. 563, 1990).

8.24.060 Smoking--Optional areas.

   Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, the following areas shall not be subject to the smoking restrictions of this chapter:

   A.   Private residences, unless said residence is used as a child care or a health care facility;

   B.   Bars;

   C.   Hotel and motel rooms rented to guests;

   D.   Retail stores that deal exclusively in the sale of tobacco and smoking paraphernalia;

   E.   Restaurants, hotel and motel conference or meeting rooms, and public and private assembly rooms while these places are being used for private functions;

   F.   A private enclosed place occupied exclusively by smokers, even though such a place may be visited by nonsmokers, and private enclosed offices, excepting places in which smoking is prohibited by the fire department or by any other law, ordinance or regulation.

(Ord. 563, 1990).

8.24.070 Posting requirement.

   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 not less than four inches in diameter with a red bar across it), shall be clearly, sufficiently and conspicuously posted in 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.

   B.   Every restaurant regulated by this ordinance will have posted at its entrance a sign clearly stating that a nonsmoking section is available, and every patron shall be asked as to his or her preference.

(Ord. 563, 1990).

8.24.080 Administration and implementation.

   A.   Administration of this chapter shall be by the Butte County Health Department or its designees.

   B.   Any citizen who desires to register a complaint hereunder may request the Butte County Health Department or its designees to consider enforcement by either of the following actions:

      1.   Serving notice requiring the correction of any violation of this chapter;

      2.   Calling upon the district attorney to maintain any action for injunction to enforce the provisions of this chapter, to cause the correction of any such violation, and for assessment and recovery of the penalty for such violation.

   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.   The fire department or the health department shall require, while an establishment is undergoing otherwise mandated inspections, a "self-certification" from the owner, manager, or operator or other person having control of such establishment that all requirements of this chapter have been complied with.

   E.   No Liability for Nonenforcement. In undertaking the enforcement of this chapter, the county is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury.

   F.   When the provisions of this chapter are not remedied by county officials, civil action against Butte County is denied and county is absolved for any responsibility to enforce and/or any liability for failure to enforce.

(Ord. 563, 1990).