Belmont,CA Bans smoking in apartment houses

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on the health care Nazis:

The Belmont City Council has passed an ordinance prohibiting smoking in multiunit housing, a measure hailed by supporters as a landmark ban that will give residents relief from second-hand smoke drifting into their apartments and condominiums.

"It's to give people who are intolerant of second-hand smoke a chance to say, 'Please stop - you're violating the city's ordinance,' in the same way that if your neighbor has a loud rock band, you can say, 'Please stop,' " City Councilman Dave Warden said today.

The council passed the measure Tuesday night by a vote of 3-2. The ordinance also bans smoking in outdoor public places such as parks and stadiums, and in "service lines" such as those at ATMs.

Belmont's ordinance would be the first in the United States to ban smoking in multiunit housing, Warden said. The council must still approve it on a second reading Sept. 25; if it does so, as expected, the law will take effect Oct. 25.

The ban will be "complaint driven," meaning residents whose units are getting second-hand smoke can call police. Police would then ask the residents who are smoking to stop.

Repeated violation of the ordinance could lead to fines of $100 or more. But Warden and Mayor Coralin Feierbach, who also voted for the ban, predicted that voluntary compliance would be more likely than police enforcement, and that relatively few people would actually notify authorities.

"Someone has to complain," Feierbach said. "Really, probably most people will not complain."

For more on the Nazi move against cancer you might want to read this academic press book.Is there any limit to government in Belmont,California?