Jump to full article: Pasadena (CA) Star-News, 2010-03-04
Author: Dan Abendschein, Staff Writer
Intro: On Monday, the council's Public Safety Committee discussed a long-proposed ban on smoking in apartment buildings, and Councilman Steve Haderlein asked the staff to find out whether the city has the legal authority to put a full smoking ban into place.
Pasadena passed a ban on outdoor smoking in most public areas in 2008, and at the time pledged to consider the apartment restrictions within the next year.
Haderlein, who is the chair of the committee, said he wasn't sure he would support an outright ban, but said he would like to know if it is an option.
"Something that broad and dramatic, we'd really have to go to our citizens and see if it is what they wanted," said Haderlein.
The discussion on extending the restrictions beyond apartment and condo units stemmed from concerns by committee members that it would be unfair to target smokers there, while ignoring smokers who live in single-family homes.
Haderlein noted, for example, that his neighbor is a smoker, and that he can sometimes smell the smoke drifting in through his kitchen window. . . .
Nancy Sagetellian, who owns a condo on South Lake Avenue, spoke Monday and said in a later interview that she was evicted from her apartment for complaining about her neighbor's smoking.
She said that since she bought a condo, she had hoped to avoid the problem, but she has a smoker living in a unit below her.
"I thought as a homeowner I'd have rights, but I haven't been able to find anybody who can help me," said Sagetellian.
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