A city in North County adopted new restrictions on smoking on Tuesday, banning residents from smoking in most multi-unit homes in Carlsbad.
By a vote of 4-1, the Carlsbad City Council adopted "a comprehensive smoke-free multi-family housing ordinance for all properties with at least 3 or more units located within the City of Carlsbad," the city said in a news release issued on Wednesday morning.
Not everybody approves of the council's decision. Former smoker and Carlsbad resident Phil Mouvet told NBC 7 last month that banning people from smoking in their apartments or condos is government overreach.
"It's kind of taking it too far," Mouvet said, but also said he understands the impulse
"The idea is to keep your neighbors from getting secondhand smoke," Mouvet said. "They might have infants around or even pets."
At the first reading of the ordinance, on July 30, council members debated the issue. Their concern: The health effects of secondhand smoke and whether the city of Carlsbad should be involved.
Though Carlsbad Mayor Keith Blackburn said in July that he owns apartments and wrestles with whether the effort is overreach, he was among the councilmembers who voted 4-1 in favor of introducing an ordinance for smoke-free housing.
"It feels like an overreach of the city. We shouldn't be property managers or landlords," Councilmember Melanie Burkholder said at the time. "Landlords and property managers can make their own determination within the confines of a lease, and I don’t think the city should be involved, so I can't support this."
The ordinance, which passed by an identical margin on Tuesday, makes Carlsbad the first city in San Diego County to ban all types of smoking and vaping of tobacco and cannabis products inside and outside multi-unit residences, except in "certain designated outdoor spaces." It would also include rental and for-sale housing developments like condos and townhouses with three or more units.
Hotels, single-family homes with granny flats and mobile-home parks would be exempted from the ban.
A Carlsbad City Council staff report showed that secondhand smoke can travel through multi-unit housing walls, ceilings and ventilation systems. According to the American Cancer Society, it contains more than 7,000 chemicals — hundreds of which are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer.
The ordinance will go into effect on Sept. 20fter the adoption on Aug. 20, but the rules regarding enforcement go into effect at the start of next year.
