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SUSTAINABILITY - ACTION ITEM: (1) Discussion of Proposed Smoking Restrictions; and (2) Direct Staff.
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Meeting Date: August 25, 2026
Contact/Dept: Sean Singletary/Public Works Department - EPO Division
Phone Number: (310) 253-6453
Fiscal Impact: Yes [ ] No [X] General Fund: Yes [ ] No [X]
Attachments: Yes [ ] No [X]
Public Notification: Email via GovDelivery (08/21/2026): Meetings and Agendas - Sustainability Subcommittee, Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission; Stay Informed - Community Gardening, Sustainability and Environmental Issues, Urban Forest Management, Environmental Programs and Events
Department Approval: Nick Zornes, Acting Director of Public Works (08/20/2026)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Sustainability Subcommittee discuss options for smoking zones throughout the City and direct staff.
BACKGROUND
At the October 13, 2025 meeting, the City Council discussed citywide smoking restrictions. The Council unanimously voted to support restricting outdoor smoking to specific zones with appropriate receptacles to mitigate litter. The Council requested additional information about where these smoking zones would be located and how the regulation would be enforced. Additional concern was raised as to where residents of multi-family housing would be able to smoke due to existing ordinances. Regulation and enforcement development was sent to the Sustainability Subcommittee.
At the January 8, 2026 and March 12, 2026 Sustainability Subcommittee meetings, members discussed possible enforcement strategies for all proposed bans. Members expressed a preference for a combination of Complaint-Led Enforcement and Inspection-Led Enforcement, as well as proactive educational outreach. Members also expressed a preference for the 18-month phase in and a hardship waiver for all proposed bans, as suggested by City Council.
DISCUSSION
Culver City's current municipal code (Chapter 9.11) prohibits smoking in most outdoor public spaces - parks, outdoor dining, common areas of multi-unit housing - with narrow, discretionary exceptions, rather than a proactively sited network of designated smoking areas. Staff earlier proposed to investigate whether a designated smoking zone can be sited in each of the City's 15 officially defined neighborhoods. However, several neighborhoods are entirely low-density, single-family residential with no non-residential public land at all. An alternate proposal is a six-zone network sited where non-residential public land exists, with coverage extending service to the remaining neighborhoods by proximity, plus a private-property mechanism and parallel permit program available for interested parties. Finally, Culver City could emulate the City of Calabasas and ban smoking in public places but leave private zones and an option.
Each of the 15 neighborhoods was screened against three criteria:
• Non-residential public land availability - retail corridors, institutional/studio frontage, or park-adjacent street frontage, sufficient to site a zone.
• Buffer clearance - ability to meet minimum distance requirements from residential windows/doors/vents and from commercial building entrances and outdoor dining seating.
• Foot traffic profile - whether the location would plausibly serve smokers in practice (workers, transit riders, visitors) versus sitting unused.
Neighborhoods meeting all three criteria were designated zone sites. Neighborhoods failing one or more were assigned to the nearest qualifying zone's service catchment or flagged for the private-property mechanism where no qualifying zone is within reasonable proximity.
Proposed Zone Network
Neighborhood: Zone Type: Rationale:
Downtown Public sidewalk/plaza Highest foot traffic; core
zone, sited away from commercial district
from outdoor dining
Washington Culver Public zone on a low- Strong commercial frontage with
dining density block of more buffer and flexibility
the retail corridor
Adjacent Neighborhood(s): Clarkdale, Park West, Park East
Fox Hills Parking structure or Mall/office/high-rise population;
transit-adjacent spot less conflict with dining seating
Adjacent Neighborhood(s): Sunkist Park, Blanco/Culver Crest
Jefferson Perimeter street; near Workforce heavy, lower
studio lot residential exposure
Adjacent Neighborhood(s): Studio Village, Blanco/Culver Crest, Blair Hills
Lucerne/Higuera Street segment near Similar profile to Jefferson; Helms
industrial/office District edge
Adjacent Neighborhood(s): McManus
Culver/West Public sidewalk near Public frontage available.
park (end of Wade St)
Adjacent Neighborhood(s): McLaughlin
The proposed locations will likely be met with some resistance - residents and business owners may protest the concentration of smoking into one location or placement close to recreation areas where children congregate. Additionally, smokers may be unhappy with siting that is not convenient to where they live or work and lacks shade or other amenities.
For residents of the nine catchment neighborhoods - particularly those with meaningful multi-family housing stock (Park East, Park West) - the network above is a supplement. Chapter 9.11 already provides a mechanism for multi-unit residential properties to establish a designated smoking area on private property, subject to its own distance requirements from units, doors, and windows. This proposal recommends retaining and actively promoting that mechanism as the primary option for residents, since it sidesteps public-land constraints entirely.
The City of Calabasas’ Comprehensive Secondhand Smoke Control Ordinance (2006) imposes a near-total smoking ban across all public places, including streets and sidewalks, with no city-sited public zones at all. Instead, individual business or property owners may apply to the City for a permit to install a marked "Designated Smoking Area" on their own property. There is no cost to apply. A designated area must be at least 20 feet from any public sidewalk, park, or playground, and at least 5 feet from any building entrance. Mandatory signage is required, ordered through the City, so designated areas are clearly marked and non-designated areas are clearly understood as smoke-free.
Calabasas’ Permit is revocable if the property owner fails to maintain the area to standard. Because siting happens on private property at the applicant's initiative, this means that proposed locations are demand-driven siting rather than city dictated, rather than the City guessing at where smoking demand will occur. Under an application model, zones only appear where a property owner has identified real demand (e.g., a restaurant with smoking patrons, an office park with employees who smoke).
This method allows the City to set standards once (distance, size, signage) rather than conducting parcel-level siting analysis across 15 neighborhoods (six zones and nine catchments) with existing precedence from another agency. It allows the City to prescribe and require refuse containers for used smoking materials so that they do not migrate into the storm drain, which was the initial impetus for the smoking restrictions.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
Implementation of smoking zones on public sites will require infrastructure investment and maintenance.
ATTACHMENTS
None.