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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORDINANCE 1999-2003~~62~~~ ~~~'~~ Suggested by: City Council CITY OF KENAI ORDINANCE N0. 1999-2003 AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, AMENDING THE KENAI MUNICIPAL CODE BY ADDING CHAPTER 12.40 THAT ELIMINATES SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES AND WORKPLACES EXCEPT PRIVATE CLUBS. WHEREAS, numerous studies have found that tobacco smoke is a maj or contributor to indoor air pollution, and that breathing secondhand smoke (also known as environmental tobacco smoke) is a cause of disease in healthy nonsmokers, including heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and lung cancer. The National Cancer Institute determined in 1999 that secondhand smoke is responsible for the early deaths of up to 65,000 Americans annually (National Cancer Institute (NCI), "Health effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke: the report of the California Environmental Protection Agency. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph 10," Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute (NCI), August 1999.); and, WHEREAS, the Public Health Service's National Toxicology Program has listed secondhand smoke as a known carcinogen (Environmental Health Information Service (EHIS), "Environmental tobacco smoke: first listed in the Ninth Report on Carcinogens," U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Public Health Service, National Toxicology Program, 2000.); and, WHEREAS, secondhand smoke is particularly hazardous to elderly people, individuals with cardiovascular disease, and individuals with impaired respiratory function, including asthmatics and those with obstructive airway disease. Children exposed to secondhand smoke have an increased risk of asthma, respiratory infections, sudden. infant death syndrome, developmental abnormalities, and cancer (California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal EPA), "Health effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke", Tobacco Control/6(4): 346-353, Winter, 1997.); and, WHEREAS, the Americans With Disabilities Act, which requires that disabled persons have access to public places and workplaces, deems impaired respiratory function to be a disability (Daynard, R.A., "Environmental tobacco smoke and the Americans with Disabilities Act," Nonsmokers' Voice 15(1): 8-9.); and, WHEREAS, the U. S. Surgeon General has determined that the simple separation of smokers and nonsmokers within the same air space may reduce, but does not eliminate, the exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke. (Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, 1986.) The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that secondhand smoke cannot be reduced to safe levels in businesses by high rates of ventilation. Air cleaners, which are only capable of filtering the particulate matter and odors in smoke, do not eliminate the known toxins in secondhand smoke (Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "Indoor air facts no. 5: environmental tobacco smoke," Washington, D. C.: Environmental Protection A enc EPA ,June 1989. ;and, g y( ) ) Ordinance 1999-2003 Page 2 of 2 ,WHEREAS, a significant amount of secondhand smoke exposure occurs in the workplace. Employees who work in smoke-filled businesses suffer a 25-50% higher risk of heart attack and higher rates of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as increased acute respiratory disease and measurable decrease in lung function (Pitsavos, C.; Panagiotakos, D. B.; Chrysohoou, C.; Skoumas, J.; Tzioumis, K.; Stefan ad is, C.; Toutouzas, P., "Association between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and the development of acute coronary syndromes: the CARDI02000 case-control study," Tobacco Control/11 (3): 220-225, September 2002.); and, WHEREAS, smoke-filled workplaces result in higher worker absenteeism due to respiratory disease, lower productivity, higher cleaning and maintenance costs, increased health insurance rates, and increased liability claims for diseases related to exposure to secondhand smoke ("The high price of cigarette smoking," Business 8~ Health 15(8), Supplement A: 6-9, August 1997.); and, WHEREAS, numerous economic analyses examining restaurant and hotel receipts and controlling for economic variables have shown either no difference or a positive economic impact after enactment of laws requiring workplaces to be smoke free. Creation of smoke free workplaces is sound economic policy and provides the maximum level of employee health and safety (Glantz, S.A. 8~ Smith, L. The effect of ordinances requiring smoke free restaurants on restaurant sales in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 87:1687-1693,1997; Colman, R.; Urbonas, C.M., "The economic impact of smoke-free workplaces: an assessment for Nova Scotia, prepared for Tobacco Control Unit, Nova Scotia Department of Health," GPI Atlantic, September 2001.); and, . . WHEREAS, smoking is a potential cause of fires; cigarette and cigar bums and ash stains on merchandise and fixtures causes economic damage to businesses ("The high price of cigarette smoking," Business ~ Health 15(8), Supplement A: 6-9, August 1997.); and, WHEREAS, accordingly, the [City Council or Board of Supervisors] finds and declares that the purposes of this ordinance are (1) to protect the public health and welfare by prohibiting smoking in public places and places of employment; and (2) to guarantee the right of nonsmokers to breathe smoke free air, and to recognize that the need to breathe smoke free air shall have priority over the desire to smoke. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA that Chapter 12.40 be added to the Kenai Municipal Code as written in Attachment A of this ordinance. PASSED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, this 16~ day of April 2003. ATTEST; Carol L. Freas, City Clerk John J. Williams, Mayor Introduced: April 2, 2003 Adopted: April 16, 2003 Effective: October 16, 2003 (3/25/03 sp) KENAI MUNICIPAL CODE 12.40 Smoking 12.40.010 Definitions The following words and phrases, whenever used in this Article, shall be construed as defined in this Section: 1. "Bar" means an establishment that is devoted to the serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption by guests on the premises and in which the serving of food is only incidental to the consumption of those beverages, including but not limited to, taverns, nightclubs, cocktail lounges, and cabarets. 2. "Business" means a sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation, or other business entity formed for profit-making purposes, including retail establishments where goods or services are sold as well as professional corporations and other entities where legal, medical, dental, engineering, architectural, or other professional services are delivered. 3. "Employee" means a person who is employed by an employer in consideration for direct or indirect monetary wages or profit, and a person who volunteers his or her services for anon-profit entity. 4. "Employer" means a person, business, partnership, association, corporation, including a municipal corporation, trust, or non-profit entity that employs the services of one or more individual persons. 5. "Enclosed Area" means all space between a floor and ceiling that is enclosed on all sides by solid walls or windows (exclusive of doorways), which extend from the floor to the ceiling. 6. "Health Care Facility" means an office or institution providing care or treatment of diseases, whether physical, mental, or emotional, or other medical, physiological, or psychological conditions, including but not limited to, hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals or other clinics, including weight control clinics, nursing homes, homes for the aging or chronically ill, laboratories, and offices of surgeons, chiropractors, physical therapists, physicians, dentists, and all specialists within these professions. This definition shall include all waiting rooms, hallways, private rooms, semiprivate rooms, and wards within health care facilities. 7. "Place of Employment" means an area under the control of a public or private employer that employees normally frequent during the course of employment, including, but not limited to, work areas, employee lounges, restrooms, conference rooms, meeting rooms, classrooms, employee cafeterias, hallways, and vehicles. A private residence is not a "place of employment" unless it is used as a childcare, adult day care, or health care facility. 8. "Public Place" means an enclosed area to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted, including but not limited to, banks, educational facilities, health care facilities, laundromats, public transportation facilities, reception areas, restaurants, retail food production and marketing establishments, retail service establishments, retail stores, shopping malls, sports arenas, theaters, and Ordinance 1999-2003 Attachment A Page 1 of 6 waiting rooms. A private residence is not a ;'public place" unless it is used as a child care, adult day care, or health care faciht . Y 9. "Restaurant" means an eating establishment, including but not limited to, coffee shops, cafeterias, sandwich stands, and private and public school cafeterias, which glues or offers for sale food to the public, guests, or employees, as well as kitchens and catering facilities in which food is prepared on the premises for serving elsewhere. The term "restaurant" shall include an attached bar. 10. "Retail 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 merely incidental 11. "Service line" means an indoor line in which one (1 j or more persons are waiting for or receiving service of any kind, whether or not the service involves the exchange of money. 12. "Shopping Mall" means an enclosed public walkway or hall area that serves to connect retail or professional establishments. 13. "Smoking" means inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, weed, plant, or other combustible substance in any manner or in any form. 14. "Sports Arena" means sports pavilions, stadiums, gymnasiums, health spas, boxing arenas, swimming pools, roller and ice rinks, bowling alleys, and other similar places where members of the general public assemble to engage in . .. .. . physical exercise, participate in athletic competition, or v~ntness sports or other events. 12.40.020 Application of Article to City-Owned Facilities All enclosed facilities, including buildings and vehicles owned, leased or operated by the City of Kenai shall be subject to the provisions of this Article. 12.40.030 Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed public places within the City of Kenai, including but not limited to, the following places: 1. Aquariums, galleries, libraries, and museums. 2. Areas available to and customarily used by the general public in businesses and non-profit entities patronized by the public, including but not limited to, professional ofhces, banks, laundromats, hotels, and motels. 3. Bingo facilities. 4. Convention facilities. Ordinance 1999-2003 Attachment A Page 2 of 6 5. Elevators. 6. Facilities primarily used for exhibiting a motion picture, stage, drama, lecture, musical recital, or other similar performance. 7, Health care facilities. 8. Licensed childcare and adult day care facilities. 9. Lobbies, hallways, and other common areas in apartment buildings, condominiums, trailer parks, retirement facilities, nursing homes, and other multiple-unit residential facilities. 10. Polling places. 11. Public transportation facilities, including buses and taxicabs, under the authority of the City of Kenai and ticket, boarding, and waiting areas of public transit depots. 12. Restaurants. 13. Restrooms, lobbies, reception areas, hallways, and other common-use areas, 14. Retail stores. 15. Rooms, chambers, places of meeting or public assembly, including school buildings, under the control of an agency, board, commission, committee or ~ council of the Cit of Kenai or a oh ' ' ' y p tical subdivision of the State when a public meeting is in progress. 16. Service lines. 17. Shopping malls. 18. Sports arenas, including enclosed places in outdoor arenas. 19. Bars 12.40.040 Prohibition of Smoking in Places of Employment 1. Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed facilities within places of employment without exception. This includes common work areas, auditoriums, classrooms, conference and meeting rooms, private offices, elevators, hallways, medical facilities, cafeterias, employee lounges, stairs, restrooms, vehicles, and all other enclosed facilities. 2. This prohibition on smoking shall be communicated to all existing employees by the effective date of this Article and to all prospective employees upon their application for employment. Ordinance 1999-2003 Attachment A Page 3 of 6 12.40.050 Reasonable Distance ~~ Smoking is prohibited within a reasonable distance of 25 feet outside an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited, to insure that tobacco smoke does not enter the area through entrances, windows, ventilation systems, or other means. 12.40.060 Where Smoking Not Regulated Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article to the contrary, the following areas shall be exempt from the provisions of 12.40.030 and 12.40.040 herein: 1. Private clubs. 2. Private residences, except when used as a licensed childcare, adult day care, or health care facility. 3. Hotel and motel rooms that are rented to guests and are designated as smoking rooms; provided, however, that not more than twenty percent (20%) of rooms rented to guests in a hotel or motel may be so designated. 4. Retail tobacco stores; provided smoke from these places does not infiltrate into areas where smoking is prohibited under the provisions of this Article. 5. Private and semiprivate rooms in nursing homes and long-term care facilities that are occupied by one (1) or more persons, all of whom are smokers and have requested in writing to be placed in a room where smoking is permitted. 6. Outdoor areas of places of employment except those covered by the provisions of 12.40.050 herein. 12.40.070 Declaration of Establishment as Nonsmoking Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, an owner, operator, manager, or other person in control of an establishment, facility, or outdoor area may declare that entire establishment, facility, or outdoor area as a nonsmoking place. Smoking shall be prohibited in any place in which a sign conforming to the requirements of 12.40.080 is posted. 12.40.080 Posting of Signs 1. "No Smoking" signs or the international "No Smoking" symbol (consisting of a pictorial representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a red circle with a red bar across it) shall be clearly and conspicuously posted in every public place and place of employment where smoking is prohibited by this Article, by the owner, operator, manager, or other person in control of that place. 2. Every public place and place of employment where smoking is prohibited by this Article shall have posted at every entrance a conspicuous sign clearly stating that smoking is prohibited. 3. All ashtrays and other smoking paraphernalia shall be removed from any area where smoking is prohibited by this Article by the owner, operator, manager, or other person having control of the area. Ordinance 1999-2003 Attachment A Page 4 of 6 12.40.090 Non-retaliation No person or employer shall discharge, refuse to hire, or in any manner retaliate against an employee, applicant for employment, or customer because that employee, applicant, or customer exercises any rights afforded by this Article or reports or attempts to prosecute a violation of this Article. 12.40.100 Enforcement 1. This Article shall be enforced by the City Manager or an authorized designee. 2. Any citizen .who desires to register a complaint under this Article may initiate enforcement with the City Manager. 3. The Fire Department, or their designees shall, while an establishment is undergoing otherwise mandated inspections, inspect for compliance with this Article. 4. An owner, manager, operator, or employee of an establishment regulated by this Article shall inform persons violating this Article of the appropriate provisions thereof. 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, an employee or private citizen may bring legal action to enforce this Article. 6. In addition to the remedies provided by the provisions of this Section, the City Manager or any person aggrieved by the failure of the owner, operator, manager, or other person in control of a public place or a place of employment to comply with the provisions of this Article may apply for injunctive relief to enforce those provisions in any court of competent jurisdiction. 12.40.110 Violations and Penalties 1. A person who smokes in an area where smoking is prohibited by the provisions of this Article shall be guilty of a violation, punishable by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars (~50). 2. A person who owns, manages, operates, or otherwise controls a public place or place of employment and who fails to comply with the provisions of this Article shall be guilty of an infraction, punishable by: a. A fine not exceeding one hundred dollars (~ 100) for a first violation. b. A fine not exceeding two hundred dollars (200) for a second violation within one (1) year. c. A fine not exceeding five hundred dollars (-~500) for each additional violation within one (1) year. ~ 3. In addition to the fines established by this Section, violation of this Article by a person who owns, manages, operates, or otherwise controls a public place or place Ordinance 1999-2003 Attachment A Page 5 of 6 of employment may result in the suspension or revocation of any permit or license ~ issued to the person for the premises on which the violation occurred. 4. Each day on which a violation of this Article occurs shall be considered a separate and distinct violation. 12.040.120 Public Education The City Manager shall engage in a continuing program to explain and clarify the purposes and requirements of this Article to citizens affected by it, and to guide owners, operators, and managers in their compliance with it. The program may include publication of a brochure for affected businesses and individuals explaining the provisions of this ordinance. 12.040.130 Other Applicable Laws This Article shall not be interpreted or construed to permit smoking where it is otherwise restricted by other applicable laws. Ordinance 1999-2003 Attachment A Page 6 of 6 CITY OF KENAI ~ 210 FIDALGO AVE., SUITE 200 KENAI, ALASKA 99611-7794 ~ TELEPHONE 907-283-7535 .. _ _ FAX 907-283-3014 ~ r~enair ~~~~~r Apri19, 2003 1992 RE: Public Hearing to be Held on Smoking Ordinances Concerned Citizen: On Wednesday, April 16, 2003, the Kenai City Council will consider two ordinances regulating smoking. The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m., and the public is invited to attend and participate. This letter is designed to provide you with general information regarding the proposals and guide you in getting more information if you would like to find out more about them. ~ One proposed ordinance (1998-2003) is designed primarily to prohibit smoking in restaurants. It would allow smoking in separate bars and in bar/restaurants if the bar area has a physical barrier between the restaurant and a separate ventilation system to keep smoke out of the restaurant area. It would not regulate smoking in homes or other public places or businesses. The other proposed ordinance (1999-2003) would prohibit smoking in almost all public places, including indoor workplaces. This ordinance includes a ban on smoking in all bars and restaurants. It would not prohibit smoking in private clubs or homes, except homes used for daycare or healthcare facilities. Retail tobacco shops and some hotels rooms would also not be included. If you would like more information about the proposed ordinances, please feel free to call City Hall and ask me. My direct line is 283-8224. Copies of the ordinances will be available by April 12 on the City's web site at www.ci.kenai.ak.us -- click on "City Council, then "Next City Council A enda." We can also fax g copies to you or you can stop by City Hall to pick up a copy. The City Council welcomes your input on these proposals. You can testify at the public hearing on April 16, 2003, send your comments via e-mail to the City Clerk (cfreasa(~,ci.kenai.ak.us) or contact individual Council Members. The City of Kenai values your opinion. Please let us know what you think. CITY OF KENAI 1~ Cary R. Graves City Attorney