Sebastopol City Council approves tough smoking ban

The Sebastopol City Council approved a smoking ordinance on Tuesday that is the toughest in Sonoma County, extending the smoking ban to apartments.

The council, however, restricted the ban to tobacco and nicotine products, removing any mention of medical marijuana.

The ordinance would require that landlords write into leases for new renters a prohibition on smoking, with a 14-month grace period for existing tenants.

In California, only the city of Belmont has an ordinance as broad, although Rohnert Park will have a smoking prohibition in half of that city's apartments takes effect next year.

The Sebastopol ordinance still needs to be brought back at a future City Council meeting for final approval.