A ban on smoking near operable windows means residents in a 125-unit building at 200 Lett St. would not be able to light up on their balconies. But resident Scott Sigurdson says the message, posted near the elevators on the parking garage’s first level, is vague enough to make him wonder how many others who live there have caught on.
Photograph by: Pat McGrath , The Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA — Residents at a LeBreton Flats condominium building should be asking questions about a lone sign that went up sometime in the past couple of weeks in their parking garage.
It says smoking is forbidden “in common areas or within 25 feet of main entrances, exits or operable windows.”
A ban on smoking near operable windows means residents in the 125-unit building at 200 Lett St. would not be able to light up on their balconies. But resident Scott Sigurdson says the message, posted near the elevators on the parking garage’s first level, is vague enough to make him wonder how many others who live there have caught on.
It also isn’t clear who is behind the sign or whether it has any legal bite. Perhaps that might be the reason no one is swinging a heavy hammer to try to enforce the rule. Sigurdson, furious at the idea, figures whoever is behind it may just be waiting to see how residents react before going any further.
Is Claridge Homes, the building’s developer, trying to stop balcony smoking? Can it?
The company transferred ownership of the building to the condominium corporation about two years ago. Claridge refuses to talk, though it is believed the company is seeking a “green” designation for the building in order to bolster its environmentally-friendly portfolio. A smoking ban could help it in its goal.
What about the condo corporation’s board of directors? It asked the board’s safety and security committee last winter to consider a recommendation to disallow balcony smoking, but was rebuffed.
Dave Rushton, board vice president, says he has “second-hand” information that Claridge work crews put up the sign. He also says the board is in the process of coming up with a no-smoking rule for common areas but is not considering one for balconies and patios, at least for now. Ontario law already forbids smoking in common areas of residential buildings, such as foyers, meeting rooms and parking garages — so why bother?
Sigurdson says the building’s superintendent, whose office is beside the elevators, told him he saw Claridge workers install the sign. Yet Claridge vice president Neil Malhotra refuses to comment “as this matter appears to be a dispute among condo owners.”
Sigurdson is not a smoker, but he is mighty miffed, especially as the condo wasn’t advertised as a “non-smoking building” when he bought his unit two years ago. Rushton says the condo board cannot stop smokers from lighting up in their units. But he believes it does have that right for balconies and patios.
Rushton says condo balconies and patios in his building are considered “common areas” and belong to the condominium corporation, which is responsible for maintenance and repairs. However, they are for the “exclusive use” of the owners in the adjoining units. The condo board decides what activities are permitted on them, such as barbecuing and smoking.
Sigurdson, however, is drafting a letter that he plans to “slip under” every door in the building, detailing the negative implications of such a ban.
He says he has plans to sell his condo in a couple of years and believes the value of the unit would drop because a ban would “reduce the pool of potential purchasers.”
He also says the balcony is convenient for friends who smoke. He doesn’t want them puffing away in his unit. But he doesn’t want them to have to “walk across the street” to smoke, either.
What’s the big deal about smoking on a balcony, he asks, as it doesn’t hurt anyone except the smoker?
“The occasional whiff of cigarette smoke that one might get from another balcony might be annoying, but to say it’s a health hazard is a little ridiculous, especially when they allow barbecues on balconies that billow smoke and make adjacent balconies uninhabitable for the duration of the cooking.”
Sigurdson figures “there are a few forces at work here.” But, he says, he’ll take them on, whether it’s Claridge, the board or both.
He says he immediately suspected the board of directors because he was a member of the board’s safety and security committee when it was asked to look into a balcony smoking ban. He says some of the five members on the board still want one.
Said Sigurdson in an email to the board on June 21: “You have no mandate to impose such restrictions on the owners of (200 Lett). I suggest you get one before attempting to impose your values on others. … (T)his would require a referendum of all the owners. I will not respect anything else. Attempt to impose this on me and you’ll have to take me to court.”
Rushton replied on June 24. He explained the sign was posted by Claridge because it is seeking LEED certification for the condo building. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and uses its trademark Green Building Rating System, which measures building performance in several areas that affect human and environmental health. Credits are given based on site development, location to surrounding communities, water efficiency, energy efficiency, building materials, durability and indoor environmental quality. The latter is where balcony smoking comes in.
Depending on the number of credits earned, buildings earn a rating of certified, gold, silver or the highest ranking, platinum.
Rushton says the board is trying to determine the scope of the smoking ban posted by Claridge, and whether it is binding.
But, he says, it appears that LEED rules are not explicit enough on smoking bans. So with or without a LEED designation, he says the posted sign may mean nothing, and the decision to ban smoking on balconies would still rest with the board.
“We haven’t made a decision,” says Rushton. “But the discussion has been and the tendency has been that we would probably not say ‘no smoking’ (on patios and balconies.) I say ‘probably’ because it’s not a formal decision yet.”
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