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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-1843 - Ordinance - 03/22/1990ORDINANCE NO. 1843 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 7 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, BY ADDING A SECTION 9 PERTAINING TO THE REGULATION OF THE SMOKING OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS IN PUBLIC PLACES. WHEREAS, the City of College Station City Council met at its regular meeting on February 8, 1990, wherein the Council heard testimony from Dr. Jim Rohack with regard to the negative effects of tobacco smoking on the cardiovascular system; WHEREAS, the City Council also heard testimony from Dr. Herman Brown to the effect that cigarette smoking is a carcinogen and a major cause of lung cancer; WHEREAS, the City Council acknowledges that there are stud- ies by the Surgeon General of the United States, the National Academy of Sciences, and other health organizations which link passive exposure to tobacco smoke, referred to as secondhand smoke, to a variety of negative health conditions in non-smokers; WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes that the Surgeon General of the United States has declared that smoking is the number one public health issue of our time; WHEREAS, the City Council has found that smoking is a detri- ment to the economic health of a business, as well; WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes that there is signifi- cant evidence that smoking creates a danger to the health of some residents, and is a cause of annoyance and discomfort to those who are in confined spaces where tobacco smoke is present; WHEREAS, the City Council seeks to strike a reasonable bal- ance between the rights of individuals to smoke and the rights of individuals to have a smoke-free environment by regulating smok- ing in certain public places and places of employment; and WHEREAS, in order to protect the health and welfare of those residents, as well as to protect the rights of those individuals who smoke and those individuals who desire a smoke-free environ- ment, this City Council has found it necessary to restrict smok- ing in public places except as authorized herein; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THAT: Chapter 7, of the Code of Ordinances of the City of College Station, is hereby amended by adding a Section 9 relating to the regulation of the smoking of tobacco products in public places, to read as follows: "SECTION 9: SMOKING OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS IN PUBLIC PLACES A. Definitions. Bar or Cocktail Lounge. Any establishment or place within a restaurant primarily engaged in the business of dispensing alcoholic or other beverages and where food is served in the form of a snack or appetizer. Enclosed Area. Any area covered by a roof and sur- rounded by walls with appropriate openings of ingress and egress. Health Care Facility. Any office or institution providing individual care or treatment of human medi- cal, physiological or psychological illness, which def- inition shall include but not be limited to hospitals, doctor's offices, nursing and convalescent homes and senior citizen residential facilities. Person. Any individual, firm, partnership, associa- tion, corporation, company or organization of any kind. Place of Employment. Any enclosed area under the con- trol of a public or private employer which employees normally frequent during the course of employment, including but not limited to work areas, employee lounges, employee restrooms, conference rooms and employee cafeterias. A residence, including a home occupation, is not considered by this ordinance to be a place of employment. Public Conveyanc-. Any mass transit vehicle or school bus. Publ~. Any gathering or assembly of individ- uals held in any room or chamber wherein public, civic or governmental business is conducted and which is open to the public either as participants or spectators. Public Plac__e. Any enclosed area to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted, not in- cluding the offices or work areas not entered by the public in the normal course of business or use of the premises. A residence is not a public place. ® Restaurant. Any structure or premises where the principal activity involves the serving of prepared food with or without alcohol, except where the defini- tion of bar herein is met, for customers' on-premise or off-premise consumption. Cafeterias and lunch counters are included in this definition while drive-in eating establishments are not. 10. Retail Store. An establishment whose purpose is to offer for sale and sell to consumers, not for resale, goods, wares, merchandise and food, which items are purchased for use and/or consumption off the premises. 11. Service Line. A line of persons formed for the secur- ing of a service or product on a first-come first- served basis. 12. Smoking. The lighting, holding, carrying of, inhaling and exhaling of the smoke of a tobacco product, which definition includes but is not limited to the carrying or holding of a lighted pipe, cigar or cigarette of any kind or any other lighted smoking equipment or device. 13. SPorts Arena. An indoor facility primarily used for sports, cultural or other similar events. 14. Theater. Any indoor facility primarily used for the exhibition of any motion picture, stage drama, musical recital, musical concert, dance, lecture or other simi- lar performance. 15. Tobacco Product. The product derived from the dried leaves of any one of the various species of Nicotiana, including but not limited to the species Nicotiana Tabacum, the broad leafed native American plant, which is utilized for smoking. Prohibition. Smoking is unlawful in the following public places dur- ing the hours in which they are open to the public: (a) Art galleries, libraries, museums, and similar cultural facilities; (b) Classrooms and lecture halls. (c) Elevators. 3 Ce (d) Health care facilities. (e) Public conveyances. (f) Public meetings. (g) Public places. (h) Restaurants. (i) Retail stores. (j) Taxicabs (k) Theaters. (1) Service lines. (m) Shopping centers and malls. (n) Sports arenas. In each instance, no-smoking shall be designated by signs posted in conspicuous locations located at any entrance to and within such areas. Such signs shall be visible to the public and clearly recite the phrase "No smoking" and/or use the international no-smoking symbol. Exemotions. Retail tobacco stores whose primary activity is the sale or promotion of tobacco and tobacco products and accessories. Enclosed areas of shopping centers and malls that are external to the retail stores would be no-smoking except for areas that would be designated as smoking areas. 3. Smoking as a part of a theatrical production. Designated areas of restaurants, whether currently in existence or to be established in the future, with an indoor seating capacity of fifty (50) or more where less than fifty per oent (50%) of the indoor seating capacity is designated as a "Smoking Area." In areas where smoking is permitted, existing physical barriers and ventilation systems shall be used in adjacent no- smoking areas. No-smoking and smoking areas shall be designated by signs visible to the public. 5. Bars or cocktail lounges. De E® Designated areas of health care facilities; each such facility shall designate separate rooms, including in- patient sleeping quarters, and areas in which smoking is permitted, using physical barriers and ventilation systems to minimize the smoke in adjacent no-smoking areas. No-smoking and smoking areas shall be desig- nated by signs visible to the public. e Designated areas of theater lobbies that are physically separate from the spectator areas. No-smoking and smoking areas shall be designated by signs visible to the public. Se Rooms of a restaurant utilized for private functions or banquets. Unlawful. 1. A person commits an offense if he: (a) knowingly, intentionally or by criminal negligence smokes in an area designated as prohibited under subsection B; (b) knowingly, intentionally or by criminal negligence smokes in a posted no-smoking area; (c) knowingly, intentionally or by criminal negligence fails to post a no-smoking area sign as required by this Ordinance; (d) knowingly, intentionally or by criminal negligence fails to inform any person who violates this ordi- nance, when such duty to inform arises as set forth in subsection B; (e) knowingly, intentionally or by criminal negligence destroys or defaces a sign posted as required by this ordinance; (f) knowingly, intentionally or by criminal negligence fails to designate no-smoking and smoking areas as required by this ordinance; General Provisions. Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed to permit smoking where it is otherwise prohibited by law or regulation. 5 Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed as pro- hibiting any employer or person in control of premises from prohibiting smoking to a greater extent than is prohibited by this ordinance. Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed as requir- ing structural changes or additions. If any provision of this ordinance or application thereof to any person or circumstance, shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions, or application thereof, of this ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this ordinance are hereby declared to be severable." II. This ordinance shall become effective and be in full force and effect sixty (60) days from and after its passage and approval by the City Council and duly attested by the Mayor and City Secre- tary. PASSED, ADOPTED and APPROVED this 22nd day of March, 1990. ATTEST: Connie Hooks, City Secretary APPROVED: 6