ywv
07-22-2010, 04:12 PM
READ NEW SMOKING ORDINANCE IF YOU ARE NOT PROPERTY OWNER OR MANAGER the city has notified them but not the actual residents who may not have bought yesterday's paper.
FYI - I am a non-smoker who believes in individual citizens' haveing the right to be informed.
City seeks to expand existing public smoking ban
by George Snyder
Sonoma West Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 12:45 PM PDT
SEBASTOPOL – Medical marijuana will not be subject to the city’s revamped smoking ordinance adopted at its first reading by the city council Tuesday.
At least for the time being.
The council unanimously voted to remove medical marijuana from the proposed ordinance and focus only on the use of tobacco after a series of speakers, several of whom said they used the plant for medical purposes, said they feared the ordinance would impede their legal use of the substance.
The ordinance, an idea long pushed by outgoing councilmember Larry Robinson, had originally included marijuana, as well as a number of other substances, including crack cocaine.
The council decided to focus on tobacco alone at the suggestion of councilmember Linda Kelley as a way to allow medical marijuana users to continue their use without becoming entangled in potential legal issues briefly outlined by Sebastopol City Attorney Larry McLaughlin.
In addition, although recreational pot use is not currently legal, the issue on the upcoming November ballot could change that situation, McLaughlin said.
By confining the focus of the ordinance on the effects of nicotine and tobacco smoke, the council was told, the ordinance could sidestep the issue.
Councilmember Robinson suggested, that the council at some point, perhaps in six months or a year, revisit the exemption to see if complaints about pot smoke indicated a problem.
“The point is not to infringe upon the rights of people in their home, but to protect others in their homes,” he said.
City Manager Jack Griffin, in introducing what is called the Comprehensive Smoking Ordinance, said the city had been working since 2008 to make the city’s smoking ordinance more comprehensive.
“The city has already established smoking bans in public parks and playgrounds. The proposed ordinance significantly increases the city’s smoking regulations to include a number of additional locations, most notably multi-family dwelling units.”
Currently the city regulations focus on outlawing smoking in public places including retail stores, restaurants, banks, offices, theaters, auditoriums and other business locations. Most importantly, the proposed ordinance would prohibit smoking in multi-family dwelling units as well as in unenclosed areas of such a complexes’ common areas except in unenclosed designated areas.
The ordinance would also require each lease or rental agreement in units in multi-family dwelling complexes to contain provisions outlining the new rules.
All existing leases would have 14 months after the final adoption of the ordinance to allow for a transition period. Single-family homes would not be affected by the ordinance.
Griffin added that the city conducted two outreach efforts to all landlord and property managers in Sebastopol in 2009 in the preparation of a draft of the ordinance, which resulted in very little response or opposition.
Places where smoking will be permitted, including single family homes other than those used for child-care, adult-care or health-care subject to licensing, also include up to 20 percent of guest rooms in a hotel or motel as long as 80 percent of the rooms are smoke free, or by performers in theatrical performances.
Griffin added that the city’s sidewalks were also smoke friendly as long as the smoker kept moving and didn’t stop to congregate with other smokers, such as in commercial doorways, including bars.
The city manager admitted enforcing the ordinance would be problematical and said the city would basically depend upon citizens to make complaints about violations with each smoking violation to be considered an infraction with a potential $100 fine.
Under the ordinance “private enforcers” could also bring civil damage suits against violators under certain circumstances.
In other news, the council introduced and adopted an ordinance restricting the use of fill in the city’s 100-year flood plain areas and limiting the elevation of the finished first floor of buildings in order to maintain an “appropriate” relationship between the public streetscape and the first floor of buildings.
The issue of fill and dealing with flooding regulations came to the fore at the conclusion of the Northeast Area Specific Plan discussions following the last city council election.
Copyright © 2010 - Sonoma West
FYI - I am a non-smoker who believes in individual citizens' haveing the right to be informed.
City seeks to expand existing public smoking ban
by George Snyder
Sonoma West Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 12:45 PM PDT
SEBASTOPOL – Medical marijuana will not be subject to the city’s revamped smoking ordinance adopted at its first reading by the city council Tuesday.
At least for the time being.
The council unanimously voted to remove medical marijuana from the proposed ordinance and focus only on the use of tobacco after a series of speakers, several of whom said they used the plant for medical purposes, said they feared the ordinance would impede their legal use of the substance.
The ordinance, an idea long pushed by outgoing councilmember Larry Robinson, had originally included marijuana, as well as a number of other substances, including crack cocaine.
The council decided to focus on tobacco alone at the suggestion of councilmember Linda Kelley as a way to allow medical marijuana users to continue their use without becoming entangled in potential legal issues briefly outlined by Sebastopol City Attorney Larry McLaughlin.
In addition, although recreational pot use is not currently legal, the issue on the upcoming November ballot could change that situation, McLaughlin said.
By confining the focus of the ordinance on the effects of nicotine and tobacco smoke, the council was told, the ordinance could sidestep the issue.
Councilmember Robinson suggested, that the council at some point, perhaps in six months or a year, revisit the exemption to see if complaints about pot smoke indicated a problem.
“The point is not to infringe upon the rights of people in their home, but to protect others in their homes,” he said.
City Manager Jack Griffin, in introducing what is called the Comprehensive Smoking Ordinance, said the city had been working since 2008 to make the city’s smoking ordinance more comprehensive.
“The city has already established smoking bans in public parks and playgrounds. The proposed ordinance significantly increases the city’s smoking regulations to include a number of additional locations, most notably multi-family dwelling units.”
Currently the city regulations focus on outlawing smoking in public places including retail stores, restaurants, banks, offices, theaters, auditoriums and other business locations. Most importantly, the proposed ordinance would prohibit smoking in multi-family dwelling units as well as in unenclosed areas of such a complexes’ common areas except in unenclosed designated areas.
The ordinance would also require each lease or rental agreement in units in multi-family dwelling complexes to contain provisions outlining the new rules.
All existing leases would have 14 months after the final adoption of the ordinance to allow for a transition period. Single-family homes would not be affected by the ordinance.
Griffin added that the city conducted two outreach efforts to all landlord and property managers in Sebastopol in 2009 in the preparation of a draft of the ordinance, which resulted in very little response or opposition.
Places where smoking will be permitted, including single family homes other than those used for child-care, adult-care or health-care subject to licensing, also include up to 20 percent of guest rooms in a hotel or motel as long as 80 percent of the rooms are smoke free, or by performers in theatrical performances.
Griffin added that the city’s sidewalks were also smoke friendly as long as the smoker kept moving and didn’t stop to congregate with other smokers, such as in commercial doorways, including bars.
The city manager admitted enforcing the ordinance would be problematical and said the city would basically depend upon citizens to make complaints about violations with each smoking violation to be considered an infraction with a potential $100 fine.
Under the ordinance “private enforcers” could also bring civil damage suits against violators under certain circumstances.
In other news, the council introduced and adopted an ordinance restricting the use of fill in the city’s 100-year flood plain areas and limiting the elevation of the finished first floor of buildings in order to maintain an “appropriate” relationship between the public streetscape and the first floor of buildings.
The issue of fill and dealing with flooding regulations came to the fore at the conclusion of the Northeast Area Specific Plan discussions following the last city council election.
Copyright © 2010 - Sonoma West