Concord's Smoking Ban Around Apartments, Condos Comes Down Friday

CONCORD, CA — Concord's city ban on smoking and vaping in and around apartments, condos and other housing units was set to take effect Friday. The order comes down nearly a year after the city council approved it.

Mobile home and RV parks, as well as congregate areas in residential facilities such as group homes, residential care facilities, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, assisted living facilities and emergency and homeless shelters, are also under the ordinance.

The only structures exempt from the ordinance are single-family detached homes, "granny" or "mother-in-law" units and motel or hotel rooms designated as smoking rooms, which account for 20 percent of all motel rooms in Concord.

The ordinance was approved by the council last January and enacted Feb. 6. It applied immediately to newly built attached-housing units, and to those under construction at the time. The ordinance provided for a phase-in period for existing apartments, condos, duplexes and the like; that phase-in period ends with the new year, which arrives Friday.

Other exceptions allow for designated smoking areas that meet certain criteria, including being at least 25 feet from any area used by children.

Bay City News contributed to this report.