Sacramento Bee Logo

Folsom considers smoking ban in apartments and restaurant patios | The Sacramento Bee

×
  • E-edition
    • Customer Service
    • SacBee Rewards
    • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Apps
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube
    • News in Education (NIE)
  • Newsletters

    • Sacramento Region
    • Arena
    • City Beat
    • Crime
    • Local Govt Salary Database
    • The Homeless
    • Marcos Bretón
    • Transportation
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health & Medicine
    • Traffic Conditions
    • Weather
    • Communities
    • Elk Grove
    • Folsom/El Dorado
    • Roseville/Placer
    • Yolo
    • Sports
    • Kings
    • NBA News
    • 49ers
    • Giants
    • Oakland A's
    • High School Sports
    • Joe Davidson
    • More Sports
    • Raiders
    • NFL News
    • MLB News
    • River Cats
    • Soccer
    • Colleges
    • Golf
    • Autos Racing
    • Politics
    • Capitol Alert
    • State Workers
    • The California Influencer Series
    • Local Elections
    • PoliGRAPH
    • State Worker Salary Database
    • Legislative Gifts
    • Local Elections
    • California Elections
    • Election Endorsements
    • Election 2018
    • Voter Guide
    • Investigations
    • Data Tracker
    • Public Eye
    • Afghan Refugees
    • Nursing Homes
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Election Endorsements
    • Viewpoints
    • Influencers Opinion
    • California Forum
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Submit a Letter
    • Jack Ohman
    • Editorial Board
    • Entertainment & Life
    • Arts & Theater
    • Books
    • Home & Garden
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Outdoors
    • Pets
    • Travel
    • More Entertainment
    • Events Calendar
    • Horoscopes
    • Comics
    • Puzzles
    • TV Listings
    • Sacbee Rewards
    • Food & Drink
    • Restaurants News & Reviews
    • Restaurant Directory
    • Cooking & Recipes
    • Beer
    • Wine
    • Appetizers Blog
    • California
    • Big Valley
    • Marijuana
    • Wildfires
    • Water & Drought
    • Lottery
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Market Summary
    • Cathie Anderson
    • Nation & World
    • National
    • World
    • Technology
    • Family
    • Celebrities
    • TV news
    • Weird News
    • Video Break
    • News Obituaries
    • Death Notices
    • FAQ
    • ObitMessenger
    • In Memoriam

    • The Sacramento Bee Store
    • Golf Card
    • Farm to Fork Dining Card
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Classifieds
  • Legal Notices
  • Place an Ad
  • Advertise
  • Mobile & Apps

Local

Folsom considers smoking ban in apartments and restaurant patios

By Brad Branan

bbranan@sacbee.com

    ORDER REPRINT →

January 16, 2015 08:46 PM

Since California passed a landmark law two decades ago banning smoking in enclosed workplaces, cities and counties have expanded restrictions, and Folsom leaders are now poised to ban smoking in apartments and in outdoor seating of restaurants and bars.

Statewide, 129 communities restrict smoking in outdoor seating of restaurants and bars and 39 ban smoking in apartments, according to Maria Bernabe, spokeswoman with the American Lung Association.

The Folsom City Council on Tuesday night directed staff to draft new amendments to the city’s 20-year-old smoking ordinance to impose those bans. The City Council began amending the ordinance last year with restrictions on smoking in recreation areas.

Officials said they are responding to growing concerns over the effects of secondhand smoke.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Sacramento Bee

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

A majority of council members indicated they were inclined to support the expanded smoking ban after hearing a report from the city attorney about how businesses handle smoking and comments from the public. Several people spoke in support of restrictions, while the only opposition came from the Rental Housing Association of Sacramento Valley.

However, the association’s executive director, Jim Lofgren, said the rental industry is moving toward nonsmoking buildings and the association’s sample leases include a nonsmoking clause.

Mercy Housing, the nation’s largest private provider of affordable rental housing, is moving toward a smoking ban in all of the 47 states where it owns property, said spokeswoman Andrea Palten. The Denver nonprofit is implementing the ban in newer properties, including its 138-unit Creekview Manor in Folsom, which banned smoking at the end of last year. Older properties will be phased in.

The organization made the decision for health and safety reasons, Palten said. Smoking is the top reason for property costs related to fires and renovations needed when smokers leave an apartment, she said.

Creekview Manor resident Alison Atkins has repeatedly addressed the Folsom City Council about the need to ban smoking in apartments. She said residents should not have to breathe smoke that flows through air ducts and into their apartments.

“It is poison,” she told the City Council. “It’s a matter of life and death.”

The Rental Housing Association of Sacramento Valley does not dispute the risks of smoke, but simply would prefer to allow property owners to regulate, Lofgren said.

Dustan Droogmans, a manager at Coffee Republic, said his employees have been able to allow smoking on the shop’s patio when it doesn’t offend other customers. People stop smoking or move to the parking lot when asked, he said.

Questions of personal freedom vs. public responsibility are likely to come up as Folsom considers the ban proposals. Already, council members Jeff Starsky and Ernie Sheldon debated along those lines this week.

Starsky said he was worried that the restrictions “would stomp on someone’s civil rights.”

Sheldon, who has asthma, replied that “a smoker doesn’t have a civil right to affect my right to breathe.”

Starsky later said he agreed with Sheldon, that he intensely dislikes smoking, and supports restrictions, even though he worried they contribute to the idea of government as a “nanny state.”

City Attorney Bruce Cline was directed to come up with a proposal that would ban smoking in newly constructed apartments, and phase in a restriction on existing apartments over time. A time frame for a phase-in was not specified.

Councilwoman Kerri Howell, a smoker, wanted to find a way to allow bars and restaurants to keep outdoor smoking areas where food and drinks are not served. However, other council members said they thought such an approach would be unworkable.

Call The Bee’s Brad Branan, (916) 321-1065. Follow him on Twitter @BradB_at_SacBee.

  Comments  

Videos

See effects of heavy snow fall in Placer County, including fallen tree on law enforcement vehicle

See flooding in streets in Big Bear from rain

View More Video

Trending Stories

‘Just please stop coming up here.’ Sierra travel can wait, officials say, as more snow moves in

February 16, 2019 03:40 PM

One dead in Tahoe City shooting, Placer County Sheriff’s Office says

February 16, 2019 05:58 PM

Home sales have dropped sharply in Sacramento. See how that’s affecting prices in your neighborhood

February 16, 2019 03:00 AM

‘Especially De’Aaron’: What Celtics star Kyrie Irving said about Kings’ De’Aaron Fox

February 16, 2019 03:17 PM

What-the-what? Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox burns In-N-Out at All-Star Weekend

February 16, 2019 01:11 PM

Read Next

Does Sacramento State have a hazing problem in its Greek life? The school says no
Video media Created with Sketch.

Education

Does Sacramento State have a hazing problem in its Greek life? The school says no

By Benjy Egel

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 17, 2019 01:00 PM

Sacramento State’s chapter of the Delta Chi fraternity has been issued a cease-and-desist amid hazing allegations. Pi Kappa Alpha and Lambda Sigma Gamma have also been under investigation within the last year.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Sacramento Bee

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE LOCAL

Williams CHP officer stabbed during traffic stop on Interstate 5 in Colusa County

Crime - Sacto 911

Williams CHP officer stabbed during traffic stop on Interstate 5 in Colusa County

February 16, 2019 05:06 PM
‘Just please stop coming up here.’ Sierra travel can wait, officials say, as more snow moves in

Local

‘Just please stop coming up here.’ Sierra travel can wait, officials say, as more snow moves in

February 16, 2019 03:40 PM
One dead in Tahoe City shooting, Placer County Sheriff’s Office says

Crime - Sacto 911

One dead in Tahoe City shooting, Placer County Sheriff’s Office says

February 16, 2019 05:58 PM
Video shows man punching, tossing coffee on 7-Eleven clerk. Police say attacker hated Muslims

Crime - Sacto 911

Video shows man punching, tossing coffee on 7-Eleven clerk. Police say attacker hated Muslims

February 16, 2019 01:57 PM
Home sales have dropped sharply in Sacramento. See how that’s affecting prices in your neighborhood

Real Estate News

Home sales have dropped sharply in Sacramento. See how that’s affecting prices in your neighborhood

February 16, 2019 03:00 AM

Music News & Reviews

The Chainsmokers are coming to Sacramento for North American tour. Have you gotten your tickets yet?

February 16, 2019 10:54 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

The Sacramento Bee App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Photo Store
Advertising
  • Place a Classified Ad
  • Place a Legal Notice
  • Place a Digital Ad
  • Place a Newspaper Ad
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Corrections Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story