Smoking may soon be banned in new Signal Hill apartments after the Signal Hill City Council voted to draft an ordinance banning smoking in future multi-family housing developments on Tuesday, March 8.
The council will decide whether to approve the ordinance within the next couple of months.
“Over time, we would love to see the city become a completely non-smoking housing city,” Vice Mayor Tina Hansen said.
The City is planning to build more than 500 new apartments over the next eight years to meet State requirements for new homes affordable across income levels, from very-low to high.
The council got the idea of banning smoking in those new developments from the Youth Leadership Institute (YLI), a statewide nonprofit promoting community change through social justice and racial equity.
YLI presented research on the negative health effects of second- and third-hand smoke in multi-family homes at several Signal Hill commission and committee meetings in 2021. In January, the council agreed to agendize a discussion on banning smoking in all multi-unit residences.
Shalin Craig, YLI program manager for the Long Beach area, told the council that Signal Hill’s rates of chronic diseases including asthma, diabetes and heart disease are higher than those in LA County, and can be mitigated by smoke-free apartments and condominiums.
About half of Signal Hill housing consists of multi-family units, according to Economic Development Manager Elise McCaleb.
Craig said YLI spoke with apartment residents in a door-to-door campaign and observed babies and small children being exposed to second-hand smoke. She encouraged the council to create an ordinance banning such smoke.
“Leaving public health decisions in the hands of individuals is not an equitable or effective strategy,” Craig said.
YLI member and Signal Hill resident Chiyelum Nwagboso said her step-sister developed asthma as a child due to second-hand smoke traveling through air vents in her apartment complex that improved once she moved to a smoke-free building.
Several other local youth spoke during the council meeting in support of banning smoking in multi-unit housing, including 17-year-old Signal Hill resident and youth advocate Miriam, who did not state her last name.
“I have to cover my nose at times if one of my close neighbors is smoking to avoid inhaling the second-hand smoke,” she said. “People who live in apartments are at higher risk for third-hand smoke exposure because previous tenants may have smoked indoors.”
Hansen said she was particularly swayed by YLI’s information that even if a smoking family moves out of a home, residue from nicotine and tobacco smoke can remain in the carpeting and walls.
“They may be subjected to chemicals they don’t know about,” Hansen said of a new family moving into such a home.
Therefore, Hansen asked City Attorney Matthew Richardson to draft an ordinance making the City’s planned new affordable housing units smoke-free. Richardson said the City has “broad discretion” to work with owners on implementing such a policy.
Councilmember Lori Woods suggested that the policy might put “social pressure” on landlords of existing multi-family residences to make them smoke-free to prevent tenants from moving to newer, non-smoking dwellings.
“We strongly encourage any current multi-unit housing [owners]—especially low-income housing—that as smokers move on, […] they gradually only rent to non-smokers,” Woods said. “It’s just an idea.”
McCaleb said state law allows landlords of multi-unit residences to impose their own rules regarding smoking, avoiding the need for a citywide ban. A citywide ban on residential smoking could create equity issues if low-income residents who wish to smoke in their homes become displaced, McCaleb said.
The City currently only bans smoking in workplaces and the State also prohibits smoking in building entryways, playgrounds, bars and restaurants, daycare centers and in cars with minors.
Landlords can legally prohibit smoking in their residential properties and the State also grants homeowners’ associations (HOAs) “full authority” to impose such a ban on their properties, McCaleb said. City Manager Hannah Shin-Heydorn said she did not know if any Signal Hill HOAs currently prohibit smoking.
Neighbors can also create a voluntary agreement to limit smoking to defined areas and tenants can ask for “reasonable accommodation” from landlords and HOAs if their health condition is worsened by second-hand smoke, McCaleb said.
Hansen commended YLI youth advocates for providing “food for thought for all of us” at their presentations to the council and City commissions and committees last year.
“I look forward to continuing discussion to improve public health in Signal Hill,” Mayor Keir Jones said.
