Sections:
9.14.005 Purpose.
9.14.010 Definitions.
9.14.020 Smoking prohibited - Enclosed places.
9.14.025 Smoking prohibited - Unenclosed areas.
9.14.030 Smoking prohibited - City pool cars.
9.14.035 Smoking prohibited - Public parks and public events.
9.14.040 Smoking prohibited - Child day care facilities.
9.14.045 Smoking prohibited - Commercial areas and public events.
9.14.050 Smoking prohibited - Outdoor common areas of all multi unit residences.
9.14.055 Smoking prohibited - Nonsmoking buffer zones.
9.14.060 Required and implied lease terms for all new and exiting units in multi- unit residences.
9.14.065 Other requirements and prohibitions.
9.14.070 Exemptions.
9.14.080 Reserved.
9.14.090 Display of tobacco products for sale.
9.14.100 Posting of signs required.
9.14.110 Enforcement.
9.14.120 Public nuisance.
9.14.130 Violations.
* Editor's Note: Prior ordinance history: Ordinance Nos. 2657, 2842, 3185, 3476, 3503, 3618 and 3768.
The purpose of this Chapter is to:
(a) Protect the public health, safety and general welfare by prohibiting smoking and use of electronic smoking devices in multi-unit housing, public parks, public places, service locations, city pool cars, child day care facilities, and unenclosed eating establishments.
(b) Ensure a cleaner and more hygienic environment within the city, reduce litter, and protect the City’s natural resources, including creeks and streams.
(c) Enhance the welfare of residents, workers, and visitors by reducing exposure to second hand smoke, which studies confirm can cause negative health effects in non-smokers.
(d) Balance the needs of persons who smoke with the needs of nonsmokers, including children and youth, to be free from the discomforts and health threats created by exposure to second-hand smoke and vapor.
(Ord. 5405 § 2 (part), 2017; Ord. 5376 § 2 (part), 2016; Ord. 5300 § 2 (part), 2015: Ord. 5207 § 2, 2013)
The following words and phrases, whenever used in this chapter shall be construed as defined in this section:
(a) “Adjacent unenclosed property” means any unenclosed area of property, publicly or privately owned, that abuts a multi-unit residence.
(b) “Bar” means an area which is devoted to serving alcoholic beverages and in which serving food is only incidental to the consumption of such beverages. “Bar” shall include bar areas within eating establishments which are devoted to serving alcoholic beverages and in which serving food is only incidental to the consumption of such beverages.
(c) “City car” means any truck, van or automobile owned by the city and operated by a city employee.
(d) “Commercial area” means an area, including all publicly owned sidewalks, alleys, parking areas, public places, outdoor dining areas, service areas, etc. within areas zoned in the city’s comprehensive plan as regional/community commercial (including downtown, California Avenue business district, town and country, and Stanford shopping center) and neighborhood commercial.
(e) “Common area” means every enclosed area and every unenclosed area of a multi-unit residence that residents of more than one unit are entitled to enter or use, including, without limitation, halls, pathways, lobbies, courtyards, elevators, stairs, community rooms, playgrounds, gym facilities, swimming pools, parking garages, parking lots, grassy or landscaped areas, restrooms, laundry rooms, cooking areas, and eating areas.
(f) “Eating establishment” means a coffee shop, cafeteria, short-order café, luncheonette, sandwich shop, soda fountain, restaurant, or other establishment serving food to members of the public.
(g) “Electronic smoking device” means an electronic and/or battery-operated device that can deliver an inhalable dose of nicotine to the user. “Electronic smoking device” includes any product meeting this definition, regardless of whether it is manufactured, distributed, marketed or sold as an electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic cigarillo, electronic pipe, electronic hookah, electronic vape, vaporizer or any other product name or descriptor.
(h) “Employee” means any person who is employed by any employer in consideration for direct or indirect monetary wages or profit.
(i) “Employee eating place” means any place serving as an employee cafeteria, lunchrooms, lounge, or like place.
(j) “Employer” means any person who employs the services of an individual person or persons.
(k) “Enclosed” means either closed in by a roof and four walls with appropriate openings for ingress and egress or not open to the sky due to a cover or shelter consisting of a tarpaulin, tent structure or other impermeable or semi-permeable materials or fabric.
(l) “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 physical 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.
(m) “Landlord” means any person or agent of a person who owns, manages, or is otherwise legally responsible for a unit in a multi-unit residence that is leased to a residential tenant, except that “landlord” does not include a tenant who sublets a unit (e.g., a sublessor).
(n) “Motion picture theater” means any theater engaged in the business of exhibiting motion pictures.
(o) “Multi-unit residence” means property containing two or more units, including, but not limited to, apartment buildings, condominium complexes, senior and assisted living facilities, and long-term health care facilities. Multi-unit residences do not include the following:
(1) A hotel or motel that meets the requirements of California Civil Code section 1940, subdivision (b)(2);
(2) A mobile home park;
(3) A single-family home; and
(4) A single-family home with a detached or attached in-law or second unit.
(p) “Nonsmoking area” means any enclosed area or unenclosed area in which smoking is prohibited by (1) this chapter or other law; (2) binding agreement relating to the ownership, occupancy, or use of real property; or (3) designation of a person with legal control over the area.
(q) “Public event” means events open to the general public, including but not limited to a farmers’ market, parade, craft fair, festival, or any other such event.
(r) “Public places” means enclosed areas within publicly and privately owned buildings, structures, facilities, or complexes that are open to, used by, or accessible to the general public. Public places include, but are not limited to, stores, banks, eating establishments, bars, hotels, motels, depots and transit terminals, theaters and auditoriums, enclosed sports arenas, convention centers, museums, galleries, polling places, hospitals and other health care facilities of any kind (including clinics, dental, chiropractic, or physical therapy facilities), automotive service centers, general business offices, nonprofit entity offices and libraries. Public places further include, but are not limited to, hallways, restrooms, stairways, escalators, elevators, lobbies, reception areas, waiting rooms, indoor service lines, checkout stations, counters and other pay stations, classrooms, meeting or conference rooms, lecture rooms, buses, or other enclosed places that are open to, used by, or accessible to the general public.
(s) “Service locations” means those enclosed or unenclosed areas open to, used by, or accessible to the general public that are listed below:
(1) Bus, train and taxi shelters;
(2) Service waiting areas including, but not limited to, ticket or service lines, public transportation waiting areas, and public telephones;
(3) Areas within twenty-five feet of the entrance or exit to an enclosed public place, where smoking is prohibited;
(4) Areas in dedicated parks or other publicly accessible areas that are within twenty-five feet of bleachers, backstops, or play structures.
(t) “Smoking” means inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted, heated, or ignited cigar, cigarette, cigarillo, pipe, hookah, electronic smoking device, or any plant product intended for human inhalation.
(u) “Tobacco product” means any substance containing tobacco leaf, including but not limited to cigarettes, cigars, smoking tobacco, and smokeless tobacco.
(v) “Tobacco store” means a retail store utilized primarily for the sale of tobacco products and accessories and in which the sale of other products is incidental.
(w) “Tobacco vending machine” means any electronic or mechanical device or appliance the operation of which depends upon the insertion of money, whether coin or paper bill, or other thing representative of value, which dispenses or releases a tobacco product and/or tobacco accessories.
(x) “Unenclosed area” means any area that is not an enclosed area.
(y) “Unit” means a personal dwelling space, even where lacking cooking facilities or private plumbing facilities, and includes any associated exclusive-use enclosed area or unenclosed area, such as, for example, a private balcony, porch, deck, or patio. “Unit” includes, without limitation, an apartment; a condominium; a townhouse; a room in a senior facility; a room in a long-term health care facility, assisted living facility, or hospital; a room in a hotel or motel; a dormitory room; a room in a single room occupancy facility; a room in a homeless shelter; a mobile home; a camper vehicle or tent; a single-family home; and an in-law or second unit.
(z) “Vapor” means aerosol produce from use of an electronic smoking device.
(aa) “Workplace” means any enclosed area of a structure or portion thereof used as a place of employment as well as unenclosed workplaces, such as outdoor construction sites.
(Ord. 5405 § 2 (part), 2017; Ord. 5376 § 2 (part), 2016; Ord. 5300 § 2 (part), 2015: Ord. 5207 § 3, 2013: Ord. 4294 § 2, 1995: Ord. 4164 § 2 (part), 1993: Ord. 4056 § 4 (part), 1991)
(a) Smoking and the use of electronic smoking devices is prohibited in the enclosed areas of the following places within the city of Palo Alto, except in places subject to prohibition on smoking contained in Labor Code Section 6404.5, in which case that law applies:
(1) Workplaces;
(2) Public places;
(3) Units within multi-unit residences; and
(4) Common areas of multi-unit residences.
The effective date of the smoking prohibition provided in subdivision (3) and (4) of this section is January 1, 2018.
(b) Any places exempted by the California smoke free workplace law (Labor Code Section 6404.5(d)) are not exempt under this chapter. Smoking is prohibited by this chapter in all places exempted by that state law, except as provided in Section 9.14.070.
(Ord. 5405 § 2 (part), 2017; Ord. 5376 § 2 (part), 2016; Ord. 5300 § 2 (part), 2015: Ord. 4056 § 4 (part), 1991)
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