BELMONT, Calif. – Officials in Belmont have given final approval to a new smoking ban that is considered to be one of the toughest in the nation.
After a late push to ease some of the restrictions, the Belmont City Council voted Tuesday to pass the anti-smoking ordinance.
Prohibitions on smoking in parks and other public places will take effect in 30 days. The ordinance's most hotly contested elements — which ban smoking inside apartments and condominiums — won't be enforced for another 14 months.
Officials say the ordinance was written so that smokers will only face enforcement if their neighbors complain.
People will still be able to smoke on Belmont's streets and sidewalks as long as they are not loitering near the entrance to homes or businesses and in parking lots and designated smoking areas.
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