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AGENDA ITEM NO. 10.
CITY OF HAWTHORNE City Council AGENDA BILL For the meeting of 05/13/2025 Originating Department: City Attorney |
City Manager:
Department Head:
SUBJECT:
RESOLUTION NO. 8529 - RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HAWTHORNE, CALIFORNIA, ENCOURAGING OWNERS OF MULTI-UNIT RESIDENTIAL HOUSING COMPLEXES TO PROBIHIT THE USE OF SMOKED TOBACCO PRODUCTS IN RESIDENTIAL UNITS
RECOMMENDED MOTION:
Staff Recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 8529
DISCUSSION:
Secondhand smoke is the combination of smoke from the burning end of a smoked tobacco product and the smoke exhaled by smokers. This combination has been found by the CDC to contain upwards of 7,000 chemicals, hundreds of which are considered toxic and about 70 are found to be carcinogenic. Chemicals and toxins in commercial tobacco smoke include benzene, butane, ammonia, toluene, cadmium, hydrogen cyanide, and more. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. An estimated 490,000 deaths attributable to smoked tobacco products and exposure to secondhand smoke occur in the United States each year, accounting for about one in five of all deaths in the United States. Each year, more than 41,000 nonsmoking adults and 400 infants die from exposure to secondhand smoke. Infants and young children are further impacted by health problems caused by secondhand smoke and are at higher risk for slowed lung growth, respiratory symptoms, more frequent and severe asthma, middle ear disease, acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
The home is the primary source of secondhand smoke exposure for children and adults. Almost 3 million children in the United States under the age of 6 years old breathe secondhand smoke at home at least 4 days a week. In fact, people are more likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke if they live in apartments, condominiums, co-ops, town homes, and public housing facilities, than on a single lot or parcel. In these mult-unit residential housing complexes ("MRHC"), secondhand smoke can infiltrate units from other units or shared areas where smoking is permitted. There are currently no engineering approaches, including ventilation, air cleaning, and air filtration, that can fully eliminate the risk of secondhand smoke exposure.
On December 14, 2021, the City Council of the City of Hawthorne adopted Ordinance No. 2227 repealing Chapter 8.48 and replacing it with a new Chapter 8.48 relating to smoking in commercial zones, within multi-family housing, smoking distance from doors, windows and similar openings, and outdoor dining establishments. This is the extent to which the government can protect individuals in MRHCs as the government is heavily restricted from regulating behavior inside a person's home. Landlords, however, do have the ability to restrict and even ban the use of smoked tobacco within a residential unit through the terms of lease agreements. This resolution serves to strongly encourage landlords throughout the City of Hawthorne to add these provisions to new leases and add them to existing leases when they are renegotiated.
The home is the primary source of secondhand smoke exposure for children and adults. Almost 3 million children in the United States under the age of 6 years old breathe secondhand smoke at home at least 4 days a week. In fact, people are more likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke if they live in apartments, condominiums, co-ops, town homes, and public housing facilities, than on a single lot or parcel. In these mult-unit residential housing complexes ("MRHC"), secondhand smoke can infiltrate units from other units or shared areas where smoking is permitted. There are currently no engineering approaches, including ventilation, air cleaning, and air filtration, that can fully eliminate the risk of secondhand smoke exposure.
On December 14, 2021, the City Council of the City of Hawthorne adopted Ordinance No. 2227 repealing Chapter 8.48 and replacing it with a new Chapter 8.48 relating to smoking in commercial zones, within multi-family housing, smoking distance from doors, windows and similar openings, and outdoor dining establishments. This is the extent to which the government can protect individuals in MRHCs as the government is heavily restricted from regulating behavior inside a person's home. Landlords, however, do have the ability to restrict and even ban the use of smoked tobacco within a residential unit through the terms of lease agreements. This resolution serves to strongly encourage landlords throughout the City of Hawthorne to add these provisions to new leases and add them to existing leases when they are renegotiated.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN:
N/A
FISCAL IMPACT:
None
NOTICING PROCEDURE:
72 hours posted notice pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act