PASADENA Calif. The Pasadena City Council on Monday adopted rules expanding a ban on smoking that would include outdoor shopping malls and dining areas, as well as public events such as the city’s annual Rose Parade.
Six of the eight council members present on Monday approved the ordinance, which requires a second reading, scheduled for Oct. 27. The measure is expected to pass and would go into effect in late November, though health department officials said the rule would not be strictly enforced until after a public awareness campaign was launched.
The move brings Pasadena in line with at least 42 other cities and counties in California that have policies regulating smoking in outdoor dining areas, including Calabasas, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, South Pasadena, Baldwin Park, Burbank and Temecula.
Pasadena’s ordinance will expand on existing city rules that prohibit smoking in parks. State law prohibits smoking in most enclosed spaces and places of employment.
Under the new ordinance, smoking would not be allowed in outdoor shopping malls or the unenclosed areas of restaurants or bars. Smoking also would be banned from areas within 20 feet of service waiting lines, doorways or window openings, and outdoor public events.
Fines would range from $100 for a first offense to $500 for a third or subsequent violations.
Smokers in Pasadena can still light up in parking lots, alleyways and outside service entrances or other non-public building entrances.
