Council Jousts Over New Smoking Restrictions In Pleasanton

PLEASANTON, CA — The Pleasanton City Council unanimously voted this week to ban smoking in common areas of town homes, condominiums and buildings with three or more attached units.

Smoking will be permitted in private units and cars but will not be allowed in areas such as hallways, lobbies, community rooms, playgrounds, parking lots, swimming pools, decks and patios, the council decided at its Tuesday night meeting. The restrictions sought to limit the effects of secondhand smoke.

Anyone who ignores the restrictions will receive a warning on the first violation, then increasing violations at $100 increments thereafter.

Pleasanton staff handled five to seven complaints about smoking violations per month over the past year, according to a city report on the proposal.

Mayor Karla Brown called the ordinance a major step forward. But others felt the restrictions didn't go far enough to protect neighbors from the annoyance and possible health hazards of smoke that may waft into their units.

The original version of the ordinance called for a smoking ban in attached homes with shared ventilation systems.

Vice Mayor Julie Testa suggested the council take the effort a step further and ban smoking in indoor units altogether. She spoke about her own frustrating past experiences as a tenant with a smoking neighbor and discussed feedback from irked residents who felt the council needed to do more to protect residents.

Councilmember Valerie Arkin said she spoke to a pediatrician about the proposal, who said that it was in the best interest of children to ban smoking indoors altogether because of the effects that secondhand smoke could have on developing lungs.

"It's not an inconvenience. It's a real health hazard," she said.

Brown and Councilmember Jack Balch were sympathetic to concerns of homeowners who invested a significant amount of money into their homes and would be forced to undergo a major lifestyle change.

Balch encouraged his colleagues to think of smoking as an addiction and said resources should be put toward treatment. At his suggestion, the council ultimately amended the ordinance to include warnings and fines for people violating smoking rules.

Arkin said that she felt banning smoking indoors would have been a "no-brainer" but felt it was a "baby step in the right direction."

Testa was less optimistic.

"I'm just so unbelievably disappointed that we're putting property and minutia over health and safety of our residents," Testa said. "I'm speechless."

Balch said the new ordinance struck a balance to allow homeowners "to have liberty in your home," he said.

But "not free from smoke and health hazard," Testa retorted. The quip prompted a rebuke from Brown.

Brown said that the action brought Pleasanton in line with nearby cities such as Danville and San Ramon, which already limit smoking in complexes. Neither Dublin nor Livermore restrict smoking in ownership units.

The restrictions will go into effect in July.