City Votes to Ban Smoking in Outdoor Dining Areas

The Carlsbad City Council voted to ban smoking in outdoor dining areas as part of an update to the city’s ordinance covering smoking.

The City of Carlsbad adopted its current ordinance regulating smoking in public areas in 1983.

In 1988 the state of California enacted a law prohibiting smoking in all enclosed places of employment, and that ban covered indoor restaurants. The ban did not extend to outdoor or unenclosed dining areas. 

Local jurisdictions have the power to enact such a prohibition, if they elect to do so. The City of Carlsbad already bans smoking at beaches, lagoons and parks. 

Other cities in the county — Chula Vista, Del Mar, El Cajon, Encinitas, National City and Solana Beach — have enacted smoking bans in outdoor dining areas, and the proposed Carlsbad ordinance is modeled after those. 

The amendment to the ordinance changes Title 6 of the City of Carlsbad Municipal Code (Health and Sanitation) to enact the new ban, and would reflect the state’s existing ban on smoking in indoor restaurants. The ordinance was introduced Sept. 25 and will come before the City Council for adoption, currently scheduled for Oct. 2. The new ordinance will go into effect 30 days after its adoption.  At that time, dining establishments will be required to ban smoking in outdoor spaces where they serve food or drinks, and to post signs alerting patrons of the ban.

The new ordinance would also require smokers to stay at least 20 feet away from outdoor dining areas, to prevent second-hand smoke from affecting diners. 

Tobacco-related illnesses are the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, resulting in 443,000 deaths each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Second-hand smoke is responsible for as many as 3,000 deaths from lung cancer, and 46,000 deaths from heart disease among nonsmokers nationwide each year, according to the CDC.

–City of Carlsbad