Golden, CO Smoking in Public Places

Type: Municipal Code

Status: Last updated in 2006 via ordinance

Source File: http://ci.golden.co.us/CodePrint.asp?Branch=True&CodeID=530

Text:

5.11 SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES AND OTHER AREAS

5.11.010 Legislative intent
City Council hereby finds and determines that it is in the best interest of the people of the City to protect nonsmokers from involuntary exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in most indoor areas open to the public, public meetings, food service establishments, and places of employment. City Council further finds and determines that a balance should be struck between the health concerns of non-consumers of tobacco products and the need to minimize unwarranted governmental intrusion into, and regulation of, private spheres of conduct and choice with respect to the use or nonuse of tobacco products in certain designated public areas and in private places. Therefore, City Council hereby declares that the purpose of this chapter is to preserve and improve the health, comfort, and environment of the people of this City by limiting exposure to tobacco smoke. (Ord. 1745, 2006; Ord. 1143, 1992; Ord. 1011 § l, 1986).

5.11.020 Definitions
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Auditorium" means the part of a public building where an audience gathers to attend a performance, and includes any corridors, hallways, or lobbies adjacent thereto.

(2) "Bar" means any indoor area that is operated and licensed under Article 47 of Title 12, C.R.S., primarily for the sale and service of alcohol beverages for on-premises consumption and where the service of food is secondary to the consumption of such beverages.

(3)

(a) "Employee" means any person who:

(i) performs any type of work for benefit of another in consideration of direct or indirect wages or profit; or

(ii) provides uncompensated work or services to a business or nonprofit entity.

(b) "Employee" includes every person described in paragraph (a) of this subsection, regardless of whether such person is referred to as an employee, contractor, independent contractor, or volunteer or by any other designation or title.

(4) "Employer" means any person, partnership, association, corporation, or nonprofit entity that employs one or more persons. "Employer" includes, without limitation, the judicial branches of state government; any county, city and county, city, or town, or instrumentality thereof, or any other political subdivision of the state, special district, authority, commission, or agency; or any other separate corporate instrumentality or unit of state or local government.

(5) "Entryway" means the outside of the front or main doorway leading into a building or facility that is not exempted from under section 5.11.030. "Entryway" also includes the area of public or private property within a zero foot radius of the doorway.

(6) "Environmental Tobacco Smoke", "ETS", or "secondhand smoke" means the complex mixture formed from the escaping smoke of a burning tobacco product, also known as "side stream smoke", and smoke exhaled by the smoker.

(7) "Food Service Establishment" means any indoor area or portion thereof in which the principal business is the sale of food for on-premises consumption. The term includes, without limitation, restaurants, cafeterias, coffee shops, diners, sandwich shops, and short-order cafes.

(8) "Indoor Area" means any enclosed area or portion thereof. The opening of windows or doors, or the temporary removal of wall panels, does not convert an indoor area into an outdoor area.

(9) "Place of Employment" means any indoor area or portion thereof under the control of an employer in which employees of the employer perform services for, or on behalf of, the employer.

(10) "Public Building" means any building owned or operated by:

(a) the state, including the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of state government;

(b) any county, city and county, city, or town, or instrumentality thereof, or any other political subdivision of the state, a special district, an authority, a commission, or an agency; or

(c) any other separate corporate instrumentality or unit of state or local government.

(11) "Public Meeting" means any meeting open to the public pursuant to Chapter 1.03 of the Code and Part 4 of Article 6 of Title 24, C.R.S.

(12) "Smoke-Free Work Area" means an indoor area in a place of employment where smoking is prohibited under this chapter.

(13) "Smoking" means the burning of a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, or any other matter or substance that contains tobacco.

(14) "Tobacco" means cigarettes, cigars, cheroots, stogies, and periques; granulated, plug cut, crimp cut, ready rubbed, and other smoking tobacco; snuff and snuff flour; cavendish; plug and twist tobacco; fine-cut and other chewing tobacco; shorts, refuse scraps, clippings, cuttings, and sweepings of tobacco; and other kinds and forms of tobacco, prepared in such manner as to be suitable for chewing or for smoking in a cigarette, pipe, or otherwise, or both for chewing and smoking. "Tobacco" also includes cloves and any other plant matter or product that is packaged for smoking.

(15) "Tobacco Business" means a sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, or other enterprise engaged primarily in the sale, manufacture, or promotion of tobacco, tobacco products, or smoking devices or accessories, either at wholesale or retail, and in which the sale, manufacture, or promotion of other products is merely incidental.

(16) "Work Area" means an area in a place of employment where one or more employees are routinely assigned and perform services for or on behalf of their employer. Ord. 1745, 2006; Ord. 1143, 1992; Ord. 1011 § 1, 1986).

5.11.030 General smoking restrictions

(1) Except as provided in section 5.11.040 and in order to reduce the levels of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, smoking shall not be permitted and no person shall smoke in any indoor area, including, but not limited to:

(a) public meeting places;

(b) elevators;

(c) government-owned or operated means of mass transportation, including, but not limited to, buses, vans, and trains;

(d) taxicabs and limousines;

(e) grocery stores;

(f) gymnasiums;

(g) jury waiting and deliberation rooms;

(h) courtrooms;

(i) child day care facilities;

(j) health care facilities including hospitals, health care clinics, doctor's offices, and other health care related facilities;

(k) (i) any place of employment that is not exempted.

(ii) in the case of employers who own facilities otherwise exempted from this subsection, each such employer shall provide a smoke-free work area for each employee requesting not to have to breathe environmental tobacco smoke. Every employee shall have a right to work in an area free of environmental tobacco smoke.

(l) food service establishments;

(m) bars;

(n) indoor sports arenas;

(o) restrooms, lobbies, hallways, and other common areas in public and private buildings, condominiums, and other multiple-unit residential facilities;

(p) restrooms, lobbies, hallways, and other common areas in hotels and motels, and in at least seventy-five percent of the sleeping quarters within a hotel or motel that are rented to quests;

(q) bowling alleys;

(r) billiard or pool halls;

(s) the common areas of retirement facilities, publicly owned housing facilities, and nursing homes, not including any resident's private residential quarters;

(t) public buildings;

(u) auditoria;

(v) theaters;

(w) museums;

(x) libraries;

(y) public and nonpublic schools;

(z) other educational and vocational institutions; and

(aa) the entryways of all buildings and facilities listed in paragraphs (a) to (z) of this subsection. (Ord. 1745, 2006; Ord. 1143, 1992; Ord. 1011 § l, 1986).

5.11.040 Exceptions to smoking restrictions
The restrictions set forth in Section 5.11.030 shall not apply to:

(a) private homes, private residences, and private automobiles; except if any such home, residence, or vehicle is being used for child care or day care or if a private vehicle is being used for the public transportation of children or as part of health care or day care transportation;

(b) limousines under private hire;

(c) a hotel or motel room rented to one or more guests if the total percentage of such hotel or motel rooms in such hotel or motel does not exceed twenty-five percent;

(d) any retail tobacco business;

(e) the outdoor area of any business;

(f) a place of employment that is not open to the public and that is under the control of an employer that employs three or fewer employees. (Ord. 1745, 2006; Ord. 1143, 1992; Ord. 1011 § l, 1986).

5.11.050 Optional prohibitions

(1) The owner or manager of any place not specifically listed in section 5.11.030, including a place otherwise exempted under section 5.11.040, may post signs prohibiting smoking or providing smoking and nonsmoking areas. Such posting shall have the effect of including such place, or the designated nonsmoking portion thereof, in the places where smoking is prohibited or restricted pursuant to this chapter.

(2) If the owner or manager of a place not specifically listed in section 5.11.030, including a place otherwise exempted under this subsection, is an employer and receives a request from an employee to create a smoke-free work area as contemplated by section 5.11.030(1)(k)(ii), the owner or manager shall post a sign or signs in the smoke-free work area as provided in subsection (1) of this section. (Ord. 1745, 2006).

5.11.060 Other applicable regulations of smoking - local counterpart regulations authorized
This chapter shall not be interpreted or construed to permit smoking where it is otherwise restricted by any other applicable law. (Ord. 1745, 2006).

5.11.070 Unlawful acts

(1) It is unlawful for a person who owns, manages, operates, or otherwise controls the use of a premise subject to this chapter to violate any provision of this chapter.

(2) It is unlawful for any person to smoke in an area where smoking is prohibited pursuant to this chapter. (3) Violations of this chapter shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed two hundred dollars for a first violation within a calendar year, a fine not to exceed three hundred dollars for a second violation within a calendar year, and a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars for each additional violation within a calendar year. Each day of a continuing violation shall be deemed a separate violation. (Ord. 1745, 2006; Ord. 1143, 1992).