Besides city property, prohibited areas would include all publicly-accessible private property. This includes shopping areas, bus stops and outdoor dining areas where smokers cannot be separated from nonsmokers by at least 10 feet, or some type of physical barrier.
Citations would be issued only after an initial warning, and depending on the number of violations, could range from between $100 and $500.
Other smoking areas could still be designated on publicly-accessible private property, like surface retail car lots, with city approval.
The concessions for outdoor dining and smoking area designations were made in response to opposition from business owners who, backed by the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, argued the previously proposed all-out bans would push potential clients out of the city at a time when a depressed economy is already impacting their bottom lines.
“I don’t see what the problem is,” Lance Miller, a board member for the Chamber, told the City Council. “We have laws in place that give nonsmokers rights.”
The council also exempted apartment balconies, tobacco lounges, film productions and “houses of worship” that often use incense.
“I don’t even want to go there,” Councilman Ara Najarian said.
Still, the council appeared to be headed down a comprehensive set of smoking restrictions that, even with the concessions, would set Glendale among a growing list of cities that have taken steps to curb second-hand smoke beyond the basic state protections.
Cities like Burbank, Santa Monica, Calabasas, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles have all enacted bans of varying degrees. With Tuesday’s revisions, Glendale’s smoking ordinance would be among the more comprehensive.
