Discussion of Ordinance #23-15 Tobacco and Cannabis Use Within Public Property and Public Places

Attached is a draft of the ordinance with changes discussed by the City Council at previous meetings. Following the September 12, 2023 Work Session, consensus of the council was to prohibit the smoking of cannabis and use of all electronic smoking devices on city owned property.  Discussion related to smoking tobacco received mixed support on where this product would and would not be allowed.  Due to our definitions within City Code, it would be difficult to separate out the smoking of a more typical tobacco product (i.e. cigarettes, cigars, pipes) versus vaping devices.  The current draft of the ordinance, as attached, would prohibit typical tobacco products on sidewalks and trails but would exempt the prohibition if someone was within their vehicle.  Council held discussion on the scenario of someone smoking within their own vehicle in the parking lot on public property and whether that would be acceptable.

Changes include:

Remove the definition of Public Place: Public place refers to semi-public property; private property generally open for use by the public but not owned or maintained by a governmental body. Such property includes, without limitation, commercial parking lots, church property, and other property generally used by patrons of a commercial or private business establishment. Smoking on these types of property is regulated by the Clean Air Act and enforced by the property owner. 

Tobacco and Tobacco Related Products: the definition within this section of code reverts to another chapter within our code. The existing definitions in Chapter 26 are all encompassing, meaning all tobacco, tobacco-related products and tobacco-related devices, include but is not limited to pipes, electronic devices, rolling papers, inhalation, vapors, etc. If the City Council's intention is to single-out the use of electronic devices, then the definitions in Chapter 26 Article XVI. Tobacco should be amended to add a single-definition of electronic delivery devices prior to moving forward. The current definitions make it difficult to prohibit a single type of device.

Prohibition: The change prohibits the act of smoking tobacco and adult-use cannabis within public property; an exception on the use of tobacco and tobacco-related products within a vehicle was added as a permitted use.

In summary, this ordinance would prohibit smoking or vaping tobacco and cannabis on all city-owned or leased property, including city-owned vehicles and equipment.  It would not prohibit the use of tobacco products within a vehicle by someone who is driving down one of our roads or sitting in a vehicle on public property.  

This ordinance does need to be introduced and then adopted at a subsequent meeting.  If adopted, it becomes effective 30 days after publication.

Not Applicable 

Community Development Department

Discuss and provide staff with direction on proposed changes to Ordinance #23-15.  If council is mixed on the use of tobacco products on public property, that section could be removed and the prohibition could move forward only addressing cannabis use.