Woodland apartments close doors to smokers

A new Woodland apartment complex is part of a growing national movement to prohibit cigarette smoking in apartments and condominiums.

The Terracina at Springlake Apartment Homes is the first complex in the city to be 100 percent cigarette smoke-free, according to the Yolo County Smoke-Free Apartments Project.

"It's a very positive amenity for the resident," Terracina property manager Tami Pedroia said about the smoke-free clause.

Thousands of apartment owners and managers in the state and across the country are voluntarily placing smoke-free stipulations in leases.

This year, California took the lead when two cities – Belmont and Temecula – adopted ordinances that restrict smoking inside multiple-unit residences. Calabasas will consider a similar ordinance this month.

In Yolo County, Woodland City Councilman Art Pimentel said he plans to pursue a smoke-free ordinance for apartments in his city. At least 16 apartments in Davis voluntarily restrict smoking in 100 percent or at least 50 percent of units since a countywide Smoke-Free Apartment Project began there in 2003.

Bans on smoking in indoor and outdoor areas have been debated in cities over the past several years after more details have emerged about the dangers of secondhand smoke. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has identified secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen, part of the most dangerous class of substances that cause cancer in humans.

No-smoking rules have been adopted for most indoor workplaces, restaurants and outdoor public places such as parks, golf courses, beaches, lines for movie theaters and ATMs.

Jim Bergman, founder of the Smoke-Free Environments Law Project based in Michigan, said smoking bans are being sought for private homes because of secondhand smoke possibly seeping through the cracks of a neighbor's doors, walls, windows or ventilation systems. Apartment owners are more aware that it's not against the law to ban smoking in rental units and that there are financial benefits in doing so, he said.

"It feels almost like a tidal wave at this point," said Bergman, who has worked for the past 10 years to encourage smoke-free apartments. "Four years ago, it was impossible to find an apartment that was smoke-free, but it is rapidly becoming the norm."

Federal fair housing laws more often protect nonsmokers in cases when breathing problems are aggravated by neighbors who smoke. Smoke-free apartment owners also recognize that it is less costly to clean apartments after residents move, Bergman said.

Advocates for cigarette smokers say specifically targeting tobacco smokers in their homes is discriminatory and that the government is intruding on people's rights by enforcing such laws.

"When you talk about banning smoking in apartments and homes, that is the point when the government is stepping into our private lives," said Robert Best, state coordinator of the Citizens Freedom Alliance Inc. and the Smokers Club.

Best maintains no-smoking laws for homes are based mostly on the unpopularity of smoking and not scientific facts. There is no strong proof, he said, that cigarette smoke can seep through walls and harm a person. Instead, people's personal freedoms are what's in danger, Best said, adding that legal tactics should focus on tobacco companies.

Smoke-free apartment initiatives under way in Yolo County are voluntary, said Steven Jensen, county tobacco education and prevention coordinator. The county Smoke-Free Apartment Project is part of an internship program at the University of California, Davis, he said. Davis apartments were first surveyed in 2004 and 2005, and only one reported having a smoke-free policy. Most established smoke-free rules after the county Health Department introduced the concept with the help of UC Davis interns, Jensen said.

The county plans to focus its efforts next on Woodland and West Sacramento in low-income, affordable housing developments, Jensen said.

Without prodding, Terracina at Springlake in Woodland opened its 156 smoke-free units last week. The complex is already 64 percent occupied, according to property management.

Terracina, an affordable housing development, is part of USA Properties Fund and USA Multifamily Management in Roseville, which recently made a commitment to build only smoke-free housing communities, Pedroia said. The company owns and manages 67 communities throughout the Sacramento area, Bay Area, Southern California and Nevada.

Diane Raymond moved into the Woodland complex Tuesday with the help of friends.

"It's just perfect and they haven't missed a thing," Raymond said as she stood in her kitchen. She said the best amenity, in addition to a clubhouse and swimming pool, is that smoking isn't allowed inside homes or anywhere outside on the property.

Residents are cited for violating the rule and multiple violations can result in eviction. Those who track smoke-free laws say enforcement of smoking restrictions in homes can be difficult.

Councilman Pimentel, who works with Raymond at Woodland Community College, was helping her move into the complex. He said it's beneficial for all apartments to be smoke-free since most people don't smoke.

In 2001, 86 percent of Californians surveyed were nonsmokers and 70 percent of Californians approved of apartment complexes requiring at least half of rental units be nonsmoking, according to the state Department of Health Services Tobacco Control Section.

"It just makes sense," Pimentel said, explaining that he wants to expand the city's smoking ordinance to include apartments. Woodland's current smoking ordinance bans smoking within 20 feet of public places, he said.

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• The Bee's Lakiesha McGhee can be reached at (916) 321-1121.