Minn.’s Smoking Ban Trickles Down to Condos, Homes

February 15, 2008

Minnesota’s battle over smoking bans is making its way into private homes, as residents of one high-rise condominium along the Mississippi River have voted to make their building smoke-free.

At La Rive Condominiums in Minneapolis, smoking will be prohibited in individual units, common areas, garages and private balconies. Current owners who smoke will be grandfathered in, but future buyers have to follow the rule, which takes effect May 1.

Those who don’t comply will be fined or face legal action.

“Just as we have seen business (use bans), we’re now seeing homeowners and landowners of apartment buildings and condominiums deciding that they don’t want their property to have smoking on it either,” said Doug Blanke, director of the Tobacco Law Center at the William Mitchell College of Law. “People are finding that, even though your home is your castle, now you’re breathing something that’s making you or your child sick.”

At La Rive, the smell of smoke led Doug Berdie, former president of the homeowners association, to start talking about a possible smoking ban. The issue was put to residents for a vote, and 23 percent were against a ban.

Berdie said overall, many residents felt the ban was a good compromise because it honors wishes of nonsmokers but still allows those who smoke in their units to continue doing so until they sell.

“We wanted to be sure the people who lived there had the feeling that, in their unit, they’re protected” from health hazards, Berdie said. “But we all agreed that the fair thing was to let those who currently smoke remain.”

The ban has grabbed the interest of real estate agents and attorneys, who question whether the ban will have future ramifications.

Michael Sharp of ReMax Results in Minneapolis said he didn’t know how the ban would affect values in an already competitive marketplace.

“Where does it stop?” he said. “And now you’ve just narrowed your clientele, especially when you compare it to other buildings that allow large pets, for example, and don’t have as many restrictions.” La Rive doesn’t allow pets.

Though smokers currently in the building won’t be forced to stop smoking, they and some nonsmokers said the restriction intrudes on their rights.

“I could understand if (smoking) was illegal, but it really isn’t, and nobody is making an effort to make it illegal,” said Wendy Cammins, a smoker who has lived in the building since 1987.

“To me, it’s just a Big Brother thing,” she said. “No smoking has become like Prohibition was, and nobody seems to be ostracized or outlawed for taking away people’s rights for this particular subject. It’s the bandwagon effect, and it seems to me that everyone has jumped on it.”

Jack Bouquet, an attorney with Thomsen Nybeck in Edina, has worked with several homeowners associations and says he’s seen more and more inquiries about smoking restrictions in private homes.

Bouquet is part of a committee of lawyers, scientists and real estate agents who are studying secondhand smoke. The committee is looking at legal issues, as well as how smoke acts in buildings.

“You ask a basic question: Do smokers have rights? That will be litigated, but right now, they’re not a protected class. You can discriminate against smokers, and it’s done every day,” Bouquet said

Topics Homeowners

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