Page One

Berkeley City Council Bans Smoking in Multi-Unit Housing

By Carol Denney
Friday December 06, 2013 - 12:43:00 PM

The Berkeley City Council unanimously supported an ordinance making 100% of all multi-unit housing smokefree at its Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013 council meeting. The ordinance will include all shared-wall housing whether rent controlled or not, and will take effect May 1st, 2014. 

Council representatives asked questions regarding enforcement, but there was no opposition to strong, smokefree protections, which had been stalled for years. Serena Chen of the American Lung Association and Liz Williams of Americans for Nonsmokers' rights were among the supportive speakers. Approximately 16 cities currently have strong protections for occupants in multi-unit housing.