Smoke-Free a Growing Trend in Multifamily Homes

The idea of smoke-free multiunit housing in Castro Valley is swirling among residents, property owners and community leaders.

When nonsmoker Mercy Peterson moved into the Lake Meadows apartment complex on Lake Chabot Road seven years ago, her then next-door neighbor was a smoker. 

"It wasn't a problem for me," said Peterson, who is unabashedly smoker-friendly. She said the six-unit complex, managed by BSR Realty, Inc., in Hayward,  has smokers in two upstairs units.  

But it is a problem for many multiunit dwellers, and cities across the Bay Area are passing anti-smoking ordinances that affect apartment dwellers. The cigarette stubs that Peterson finds along the base of the fence edging the common driveway of her complex prove that Castro Valley hasn't joined the movement—yet.

"The only thing I really notice are the butts (thrown over the balcony) that land in the driveway," said Peterson, who, for the past three years has collected the garbage, cleaned the yard and swept the walkways and driveway for the complex.

Peterson also cleans homes for a living and has seen the damage cigarette smoke causes. "I've cleaned a home where smoke just stuck to the walls and it was so hard to clean them," she said.

Broker Kevin Simas of NorCal Realty, Inc., in Hayward has a property management inventory of several Castro Valley single-family detached homes, townhouses and multiplexes. He agreed that the tar from exhaled smoke is almost impossible to remove. 

"The walls have to be washed with TSP (trisodium phosphate), rinsed good and then primed before painting," Simas said. "We have a ban on smoking inside, in any units, on all properties."

Most fitness-conscious Californians are concerned about more than dirty walls. They are worried about the health risks associated with secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke or ETS.

According to the American Lung Association, secondhand smoke is made up of the smoke from the burning end of a pipe or cigarette and the smoke blown into the air by the smoker, and contains many chemicals that cause cancer, asthma and various health woes.

Hayward's BSR Realty, Inc., which manages 250 units in Castro Valley, has initiated a smoking ban in all units.

"It's not an easy process. I'm doing this on my own by disclosing that we are moving toward nonsmoking units," said BSR Realty Broker Dwight Roberts, who implemented the no-smoking policy in January. "New tenants coming in have been introduced to our policy of 'no smoking on the property.' "

However, tenants who were renting prior to January 2010 will not be required to extinguish their cigarettes and pipes inside their units, he said.

"Nonsmoking units is a trend that has been happening in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and it will continue. I believe that within five years all apartments and condominiums in California will be smoke-free buildings," said Roberts, adding that he wonders what will happen then, when marijuana smokers with medical marijuana certificates light up on the patio below a unit with a 1-year-old child.

"The smoker with the certificate will say, 'It's my medication,' but that medication is going to the 1-year-old," Roberts observed.

In fall 2007, the Belmont City Council in San Mateo County approved a tough anti-smoking law stipulating that the city's smoking ban, which restricted smoking in multiunit common areas, would include condominiums, townhouses and multiunit apartment buildings. It also proclaimed that secondhand smoke is a public nuisance.

Belmont was the first California city to extend a smoking-ban statute to individual apartment units. The ban went into effect Jan. 9, 2009.

"Most cities have nuisance laws, indicating the 'right of quiet enjoyment,' " said Serena Chen, tobacco policy director for the American Lung Association of California — Greater Bay Area. "However, Belmont is one of three California cities to pass a law which bans smoking inside apartments." 

The City of Richmond has an ordinance that will take effect in January, while Sebastopol's goes into effect in November 2011. The Dublin City Council declared second-hand smoke a public nuisance in August 2006.

"The Dublin City Council passed a smoke-free ban that requires at least 50 percent of the units in every Dublin apartment complex with 16 units or more be designated as nonsmoking by January 2011," Chen said.

The Groves at Dublin Ranch apartment complex has joined the move toward smoke-free housing, according to Chen. It has "decided to make all 322 of their senior apartment units nonsmoking," she said.  

But it doesn't end there. The City of Novato passed an ordinance requiring 75 percent of apartment buildings with 10 units or more to be smoke-free by July 2008; Rohnert Park requires that 75 percent of multiunit homes be designated as nonsmoking by June 2011; Pleasant Hill passed an ordinance requiring 80 percent of apartment buildings with four units or more be designated nonsmoking by April 2015.

"Smoking shouldn't be allowed (in apartment units)," said Paul Nowak, owner of Nowak Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc., a 30-year-old company based in Castro Valley. "It affects others; it annoys them. It should be prohibited when there are adjoining walls, crawl spaces and attics because smoke penetrates vents, receptacles and light switches."

Nowak said he believes that nonsmokers generally are sensitive to smoke. "I feel strongly about not smoking in apartments," he said. "There was a young couple in the Oakland Hills who were very concerned about the habitual smoke that wafted in (to their home through a window) from a neighbor smoking in the front yard. They were concerned about the health of the woman, who was three months pregnant, and about the health of the baby."

Nowak said he used an accessory that prohibited outside air from entering the house. "I designed a system to block out and seal the flow of smoke that came in from outside.  The system was created to have positive pressure in (the) house, drawing from a fresh application system, to keep smoke out," he said, adding that it worked well.

According to the Technical Assistance Legal Center (TALC), funded by the California Department of Health Services, landlords are free to prevent smoking in apartment buildings.

"Any property owner can put in the lease, 'No Smoking' or 'No Pets,' " said Chen. "There's no constitutional right to bear cigarettes, to smoke."

TALC further informs the public that cities or counties may pass an ordinance prohibiting smoking because of their inherent police power to protect the health of residents.

Could smoking in apartments and condos with shared floors and ceilings become outlawed in Castro Valley?

"Anything's possible," said Bob Swanson, constituent liaison for Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, whose district includes Castro Valley. "Right now, (it) isn't an issue that people are clamoring for."

Over the decade that Swanson has worked in Miley's office, he said he can recall only one person complaining about a neighbor smoking in their apartment complex. 

"I looked into the complaint and there were no regulations to restrict smoking in apartments — none. I guess they didn't want to start a grass-roots movement (to lobby for a ban on smoking in apartment units)," said Swanson."When we have a group concern about something, we will take a look," he said. "We don't want to over-regulate unless there's a problem."

Castro Valley, one of the largest unincorporated communities in California, is in Alameda County.  The Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) serves as an advisory body to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. 

If Miley finds merit in a group's concern, he takes the issue before the MAC and recommends action by the Board of Supervisors. "If a community likes the idea, the Board of Supervisors will move forward with a new ordinance," said Swanson.

For more information, click on the following links:

Bay Area Smoke-Free Housing, for the most commonly requested materials for apartment and condo dwellers, landlords and advocates.

The Alameda County Public Health Department Tobacco Control Program, for information on smoking control ordinances in Castro Valley, and throughout Alameda County.

The Technical Assistance Legal Center (TALC), for information on tobacco-control policy issues, and free legal tools for tenants affected by secondhand smoke.

California Cities with Smoke-Free Housing Provisions, for more information on California's efforts in creating smoke-free housing for all.