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• West Des Moines apartment complex makes buildings smoke-free  

Iowa's largest apartment complex is making nearly 25 percent of its 1,076 apartments smoke-free, owner Keith Denner said Tuesday.

The move is designed to improve the health and safety of residents, said Denner, who owns and manages the Sun Prairie and Vista Court Apartments in West Des Moines, which are adjacent to each other and include 40 buildings.

"This is supply-side economics at its best," said Bonnie Mapes, director of the Iowa Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control.

"This is not government-driven. It's a business decision"

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Tenants 'nervous' about auction of American Tobacco buildings 

The potential for two newly renovated buildings in American Tobacco Campus to be auctioned off later this month had development experts and tenants wondering "What's next?" on Thursday.

The Old Bull and Noell, two historic buildings turned into offices and apartments in the northeast corner of American Tobacco, will be up for auction on June 29 as a result of a lawsuit filed by Code Electric Inc. of Raleigh against Baltimore-based developer Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, citing about $318,000 in unpaid work.

"I'm a little nervous, to be honest," said Jay Andorfer, who owns a real estate business with his wife, Amy, in the Old Bull building. They moved in in November and have a 10-year lease.

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• San Mateo condo complex to vote on smoking ban  

One San Mateo condominium complex may soon be turning into a microcosm of Belmont, the neighboring city that made national headlines in 2007 by banning smoking in condos and apartments.

The Plaza West Complex's board of directors will vote later this month whether to adopt a rule banning smoking anywhere on the premises except for two outdoor stairwell areas and a portion of the parking lot. . . .

Jagruti Patel is one of five residents that sit on the board. She said the proposed rule has the support of all five members and will likely pass when it comes up for a vote later this month.

Patel, 30, who lives in the 20th Avenue complex with her husband, said she joined the board primarily to advocate for a smoking ban after suffering through a neighbor's smoke, which drifted into her unit on hot days.

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Health Department to discuss apartment smoking bans 

LONG BEACH - Apartment dwellers often complain to the city Health Department about smoke wafting into their units from common areas.

A public meeting planned from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday will examine what landlords and tenants can do besides close their windows.

The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services will host a "Smoke Free Apartments Community Forum" at the John Parr Health Enhancement Center at St. Mary Medical Center, 1055 Linden Ave.

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Contra Costa County considers additional smoking laws  

The health department was told to draft a new ordinance that would require landlords to tell prospective tenants which of their neighbors are smokers, and how smoking complaints will be handled.

Also, restaurant owners could be fined for allowing customers to smoke in outdoor dining areas -- a part of the smoking ban that is often being ignored.

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KNUTSON: Smoke-Free Apartments: Good for Children's Health 

The biggest secondhand smoke threat to childrenís health remains right where they live: multi-unit housing developments. In California, nearly 11 million people (34 percent) live in multi-unit housing and a large number of these residents are children. Secondhand smoke can drift into nearby apartments from stairs, balconies, patios, courtyards and through open windows, shared ventilation systems, and gaps around plumbing, ductwork and electrical wiring. Ventilation systems only reduce the odor of smoke and do not remove the tobacco carcinogens from the air.

Secondhand smoke is especially harmful to kids because their lungs are still developing and they breathe in more smoke in proportion to their body size. Children under the age of five spend the majority of their time at home. If they live in an apartment, they are at greater risk for exposure to secondhand smoke when a smoker lives next door. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, secondhand smoke can cause asthma in preschool-aged children and increases the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Infants and children younger than 6 who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk of lower respiratory track infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis. . . .

Despite all of the advances made in preventing secondhand smoke exposure, Californiaís children are still at risk in their very own home. California voters and residents alike believe that smoke-free policies and offering a choice of nonsmoking apartment buildings are ideas worth considering. Smoke free apartment policies can lead to safer and more productive lives for all, especially Californiaís children.

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• More apartments in Minnesota snuffing out smoking 

"I remember sitting out on my balcony last year and being able to smell someone smoking," she said. "Even if you can't smell it, there's toxins in the air."

The number of apartment buildings with non-smoking policies -- while small -- is growing, according to Live Smoke Free, a program of the Association for Nonsmokers-Minnesota funded by a Minnesota Department of Health grant.

The group has identified about 280 multi-unit apartment complexes with at least one non-smoking building, said Carissa Duke, community outreach coordinator for the organization. About a half dozen housing co-operatives and condominiums also have gone smoke free. All told, the smoke-free buildings account for about 2 percent of the state's rental properties, she said.

Waterstone Place is the fourth area smoke-free apartment building managed by Steven Scott Management, which handles 62 buildings in the Twin Cities.

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North Side's Morgan follows suit  

Non-smoking apartment renters looking for May occupancy can head to the The Morgan at Loyola Station in Rogers Park.

Smoking in apartments or common areas will not be permitted in the new mixed-use building at 1209 W. Arthur. The complex features 152 rental apartments, 33,000 square feet of first-floor retail space and 95 garage parking stalls.

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• Renters breathe easy with no-smoking policy 

Renters who abhor cigarette smoking can head to the South Loop to sign a lease at the new AMLI 900, Chicago's first smoke-free apartment building.

The developer, AMLI Residential, says the 24-story highrise at 900 S. Clark was designed for those who want to live in a smoke-free environment. The building's Breatheasy program strictly prohibits smoking by residents and guests inside and outside the building. Residents who do not follow the rules will be fined, and all fines will be donated to charity.

"The feedback from prospective and current residents has been overwhelmingly positive," said Jennifer Wolf, senior vice president of development for AMLI Residential. . . .

Wolf said one of the reasons for the smoke-free requirement is its green theme.

"The rental building will be the first new construction rental apartment building in Chicago to receive LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] certification by the United States Green Building Council due to its efforts to improve, among other things, internal air quality," Wolf said.

"As part of our LEED certification, we chose to prohibit smoking and to comply with an Environmental Tobacco Smoke Control prerequisite, as well as offer a healthier living environment for our residents and their guests,"

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The rental building will be the first new construction rental apartment building in Chicago to receive LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] certification by the United States Green Building Council due to its efforts to improve, among other things, internal air quality. As part of our LEED certification, we chose to prohibit smoking and to comply with an Environmental Tobacco Smoke Control prerequisite, as well as offer a healthier living environment for our residents and their guests.
Jennifer Wolf, senior vice president of development for AMLI Residential, developer of the new 24-story AMLI 900, Chicago's first smoke-free apartment building.

Asbestos complicates demolition at NC tobacco plant 

Outside of Greenville, North Carolina, demolition at the Imperial Tobacco plant has been hindered by asbestos removal.

The historic tobacco plant was partially destroyed by fire in April of last year. The final phase of demolition is slated for completion as early as next week.

Most of the major structures have been razed.

Workers faced a series of unique challenges during the demolition process, which began last October.

After the fire, the plant and warehouse complex was covered with deadly asbestos, which contaminated the steel, bricks and timbers that needed to be removed by workers. Asbestos was once a common component of building materials such as insulation, tiles, roofs, and siding.

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• Landlords lead push to ban smoking at home 

It was one thing, they figured, for lawmakers to banish smoking from restaurants and bars. It was something else entirely to deploy city or state laws to prevent apartment tenants and condo owners from smoking in their own homes.

So, instead, they are leaving it to market forces, convinced that the supply side - landlords - will listen to the demand side - nonsmoking tenants - and adopt smoke-free rules.

It appears to be working.

"Now renting! Smoke-free apartment living" trumpets a banner billowing from a blocklong apartment house rising in the shadow of TD Banknorth Garden. And a soon-to-be-released survey from Northeastern University shows broad support for smoke-free living among tenants, a finding that activists plan to share in coming months with landlords, tenants, and condo boards.

"This isn't government shoving it down the tenants' throat," said Jim Bergman, who directs the Smoke-Free Environments Law Project, which tracks the movement nationally. "When you start putting restrictions on where people can smoke in their home, even if it's a rental home, they might feel that's an infringement of their rights in a greater way than having smoke-free workplaces."

Still, even this more gentle strategy is sure to rankle some smokers, who complain of being branded as pariahs.

Stephen Helfer, who has fought on behalf of smokers' rights for years, said there is nothing subtle about efforts that he argues will further marginalize the poor and the mentally ill, who smoke at rates higher than the state average. . . .

"People have criticized us and said this is a nanny state issue," said former Belmont City Council member David Warden, who championed the regulation, which can result in a $100 fine for scofflaw smokers. "A nanny state to me is when you have laws that try to protect you from yourself.

"The intent here is to protect people from other people's behavior." . . .

landlords insist it can cost thousands of dollars to restore carpets and paint in units occupied by smokers. And condo boards that go smoke-free cite a lower fire risk and, potentially, reduced insurance costs.

The Mount Vernon Co., which owns apartment buildings on such tony corridors as Commonwealth Avenue and Newbury Street, was among the first to ban smoking.

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Bits and Pieces: Built on tobacco 

Cheers to Piedmont Triad Research Park for pursuing national historic-district status to help preserve its R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. buildings.

The historic-district status could bring tax credits that would spur renovation in the park's northern expansion project. And the preserved buildings would be a strong reminder that tobacco helped build Winston-Salem.

The Winston-Salem Journal has joined many others in pushing for FDA regulation of tobacco and a ban on smoking in most enclosed workplaces and buildings open to the public in this state. The dangers of smoking and second-and smoke can't be denied. These are modern realities, but the contributions that tobacco has long made to this region, even as we move to a higher-tech economy, cannot be denied and should not be forgotten. The research park is a symbol of that change. It's been heavily supported by the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, which is rooted in tobacco money. Targa-cept, a spinoff from RJR and one of the bedrocks of the park, is developing drugs based on nicotine to treat diseases of the central nervous system.

As the park helps lead this region into a new era, its preserved buildings can help tell the story of the preceding one.

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F. Y. I. - Raccoons and Rabies - Question - 

Q. As the Q train crosses the East River, I'm looking at a large space just north of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side: brick-colored walls several stories high, with no doors, windows or roof, surrounding an empty space. What is it?

A. A parkland performance space named for what it used to be: the Tobacco Warehouse.

Built in the 1870s by the Lorillard family as a tobacco customs inspection center, it was saved from demolition in 1898 and repaired in 2002 by the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Its 18,000-square-foot interior, free of columns, is used for concerts, weddings, special events and video shoots, according to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy.

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• Smoking ban in rental housing examined 

Could smoking inside rental housing be banned in Tacoma? Potentially, but such a ban has legal complexities surrounding it. Tacoma City Council's Neighborhoods and Housing Committee heard a proposal on the topic on March 2.

Jacqueline Strong Moss from the city's Human Rights and Human Services Department mentioned the statewide smoking ban in public places such as taverns, restaurants and bowling alleys. That does not apply to rental housing, she noted.

However, some landlords are increasingly concerned about the costs of cleaning rental units after smokers move out. John Briehl, director of the department, said that as a result efforts to ban smoking in rental units are mostly market-driven. "There has been movement in the industry for smoke-free housing."

Smoking is banned in some public housing. Briehl gave one local example. Tacoma Housing Authority bans smoking in its E.B. Wilson Apartments, which are designated for elderly and disabled renters. Smoking was banned in all 77 units last year. Seattle Housing Authority has one smoke-free complex.

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Are apartments next in Tacoma smoking fight? 

Tacoma city officials are already considering a ban on smoking in city parks.

Now they are discussing whether to add apartment buildings to the list of no-smoking zones.

Members of the Tacoma City Council’s Neighborhoods and Housing Committee heard a report this week about a variety of ways the city could go about banning smoking in apartments and other multi-family housing units.

The report came from officials from the city’s Human Rights and Human Services Department.

The officials made no recommendations about whether to pursue any of them, and council members took no action at Monday’s meeting.

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