[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Atlantic
City as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 6-9-1993 by Ord. No. 41-1993; amended in its entirety 2-7-2007 by Ord. No.
86-2006]
The following words and phrases, whenever used in this article,
shall be construed as defined in this section:
An establishment that is devoted to the serving of alcoholic
beverages for consumption by guests on the premises and in which the
serving of food is only incidental to the consumption of those beverages,
including but not limited to taverns, nightclubs, cocktail lounges,
and cabarets.
A sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation,
or other business entity, either for-profit or not-for-profit, including
retail establishments where goods or services are sold; professional
corporations and other entities where legal, medical, dental, engineering,
architectural, or other professional services are delivered; and private
clubs.
A person who is employed by an employer in consideration
for direct or indirect monetary wages or profit, and a person who
volunteers his or her services for a nonprofit entity.
A person, business, partnership, association, corporation,
including a municipal corporation, trust, or nonprofit entity that
employs the services of one or more individual persons.
All space between a floor and ceiling that is enclosed on
all sides by solid walls or windows (exclusive of doorways), which
extend from the floor to the ceiling.
The area within the perimeter of any casino and any casino
simulcasting facility as set forth and defined in Section 5 of the
New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act (N.J.S.A. 26:3D-59).
An office or institution providing care or treatment of diseases,
whether physical, mental, or emotional, or other medical, physiological,
or psychological conditions, including but not limited to hospitals,
rehabilitation hospitals or other clinics, including weight control
clinics, nursing homes, homes for the aging or chronically ill, laboratories,
and offices of surgeons, chiropractors, physical therapists, physicians,
dentists, and all specialists within these professions. This definition
shall include all waiting rooms, hallways, private rooms, semiprivate
rooms, and wards within health-care facilities.
An area under the control of a public or private employer
that employees normally frequent during the course of employment,
including but not limited to work areas, private offices, employee
lounges, rest rooms, conference rooms, meeting rooms, classrooms,
employee cafeterias, hallways, and vehicles. A private residence is
not a place of employment unless it is used as a child-care, adult
day-care, or health-care facility.
An organization, whether incorporated or not, which is the
owner, lessee, or occupant of a building or portion thereof used exclusively
for club purposes at all times, which is operated solely for a recreational,
fraternal, social, patriotic, political, benevolent, or athletic purpose,
but not for pecuniary gain, and which only sells alcoholic beverages
incidental to its operation. The affairs and management of the organization
are conducted by a board of directors, executive committee, or similar
body chosen by the members at an annual meeting. The organization
has established bylaws and/or a constitution to govern its activities.
The organization has been granted an exemption from the payment of
federal income tax as a club under 26 U.S.C. § 501.
An enclosed area to which the public is invited or in which
the public is permitted, including but not limited to banks, bars,
educational facilities, gaming facilities, health-care facilities,
hotels and motels, laundromats, public transportation facilities,
reception areas, restaurants, retail food production and marketing
establishments, retail service establishments, retail stores, shopping
malls, sports arenas, theaters, and waiting rooms. A private club
is a public place when being used for a function to which the general
public is invited. A private residence is not a public place unless
it is used as a child-care, adult day-care, or health-care facility.
An eating establishment, including but not limited to, coffee
shops, cafeterias, sandwich stands, and private and public school
cafeterias, which gives or offers for sale food to the public, guests,
or employees, as well as kitchens and catering facilities in which
food is prepared on the premises for serving elsewhere. The term "restaurant"
shall include a bar area within the restaurant.
An indoor line in which one or more persons are waiting for
or receiving service of any kind, whether or not the service involves
the exchange of money.
An enclosed public walkway or hall area that serves to connect
retail or professional establishments.
Inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted cigar,
cigarette, pipe, or other lighted tobacco product in any manner or
in any form.
Sports pavilions, stadiums, gymnasiums, health spas, boxing
arenas, swimming pools, roller and ice rinks, bowling alleys, and
other similar places where members of the general public assemble
to engage in physical exercise, participate in athletic competition,
or witness sports or other events.
All enclosed facilities, including buildings and vehicles owned,
leased, or operated by the City of Atlantic City shall be subject
to the provisions of this article.
Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed public places within
the City of Atlantic City, including but not limited to the following
places:
A.Â
Aquariums, galleries, libraries, and museums.
B.Â
Areas available to and customarily used by the general public in
businesses and nonprofit entities patronized by the public, including
but not limited to banks, laundromats, professional offices, and retail
service establishments.
C.Â
Bars.
D.Â
Bingo facilities.
E.Â
Child-care and adult day-care facilities.
F.Â
Convention facilities.
G.Â
Educational facilities, both public and private.
H.Â
Elevators.
I.Â
Gaming facilities, except as exempted under this article.
J.Â
Health-care facilities.
K.Â
Hotels and motels.
L.Â
Lobbies, hallways, and other common areas in apartment buildings,
condominiums, trailer parks, retirement facilities, nursing homes,
and other multiple-unit residential facilities.
M.Â
Polling places.
N.Â
Private clubs when being used for a function to which the general
public is invited.
O.Â
Public transportation facilities, including buses, jitneys and taxicabs,
and ticket, boarding, and waiting areas of public transit depots.
P.Â
Restaurants.
Q.Â
Rest rooms, lobbies, reception areas, hallways, and other common-use
areas.
R.Â
Retail stores.
S.Â
Rooms, chambers, places of meeting or public assembly, including
school buildings, under the control of an agency, board, commission,
committee or council of the City or a political subdivision of the
state, to the extent the place is subject to the jurisdiction of the
City.
T.Â
Service lines.
U.Â
Shopping malls.
V.Â
Sports arenas, including enclosed places in outdoor arenas.
W.Â
Theaters and other facilities primarily used for exhibiting motion
pictures, stage dramas, lectures, musical recitals, or other similar
performances.
A.Â
Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed facilities within places
of employment without exception. This includes common work areas,
auditoriums, classrooms, conference and meeting rooms, private offices,
elevators, hallways, medical facilities, cafeterias, employee lounges,
stairs, rest rooms, vehicles, and all other enclosed facilities.
B.Â
This prohibition on smoking shall be communicated to all existing
employees by the effective date of this article and to all prospective
employees upon their application for employment.
[Amended 4-25-2012 by Ord. No. 35-2012]
Smoking shall be prohibited in the seating areas of all outdoor
arenas, stadiums, and amphitheaters, as well as in bleachers and grandstands
for use by spectators at sporting and other public events. In addition,
smoking of any kind shall be and hereby is prohibited on public playgrounds,
athletic fields and courts.
A.Â
Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the contrary, the following areas shall be exempt from the provisions of §§ 221-3 and 221-4:
(1)Â
Private residences, except when used as a child-care, adult day-care,
or health care facility.
(2)Â
Hotel and motel rooms that are rented to guests and are designated
as smoking rooms; provided, however, that not more than 20% of rooms
rented to guests in a hotel or motel may be so designated.
(3)Â
Private and semiprivate rooms in nursing homes and long-term-care
facilities that are occupied by one or more persons, all of whom are
smokers and have requested in writing to be placed in a room where
smoking is permitted; provided that smoke from these places does not
infiltrate into areas where smoking is prohibited under the provisions
of this article.
(4)Â
Private clubs that have no employees, except when being used for
a function to which the general public is invited. This exemption
shall not apply to any organization that is established for the purpose
of avoiding compliance with this article.
(6)Â
Gaming floors within licensed casino hotel facilities; provided,
however, that not more than 25% of such gaming floor, as particularly
determined by the casino licensee operator of the casino hotel facility
within which the gaming floor is located, may be so designated.
[Added 10-27-2008 by Ord. No. 95-2008]
B.Â
On the one-year anniversary of the adoption of the ordinance amending
this section,[1] Council, through its Revenue and Finance Committee, shall review this chapter and determine whether the factors then impacting the general welfare of Atlantic City residents and the Atlantic City casino industry and the employment, development, competitive and other economic conditions which affect them warrant a continuation of the provisions of Subsection A(6) or that the restrictions of Ord. No. 27-2008 should be reimplemented.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, an owner, operator, manager, or other person in control of an establishment, facility, or outdoor area may declare that entire establishment, facility, or outdoor area as a nonsmoking place. Smoking shall be prohibited in any place in which a sign conforming to the requirements of § 221-8A is posted.
A.Â
"No Smoking" signs or the international "No Smoking" symbol (consisting
of a pictorial representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a
red circle with a red bar across it) shall be clearly and conspicuously
posted in every public place and place of employment where smoking
is prohibited by this article, by the owner, operator, manager, or
other person in control of that place.
B.Â
Every public place and place of employment where smoking is prohibited
by this article shall have posted at every entrance a conspicuous
sign clearly stating that smoking is prohibited.
C.Â
All ashtrays shall be removed from any area where smoking is prohibited
by this article by the owner, operator, manager, or other person having
control of the area.
A.Â
No person or employer shall discharge, refuse to hire, or in any
manner retaliate against an employee, applicant for employment, or
customer because that employee, applicant, or customer exercises any
rights afforded by this article or reports or attempts to prosecute
a violation of this article.
B.Â
An employee who works in a setting where an employer allows smoking
does not waive or otherwise surrender any legal rights the employee
may have against the employer or any other party.
A.Â
This article shall be enforced by the Department of Health and Human
Services or the Business Administrator, or an authorized designee.
B.Â
Notice of the provisions of this article shall be given to all applicants
for a business license in the City of Atlantic City.
C.Â
Any citizen who desires to register a complaint under this article
may initiate enforcement with the Department of Health and Human Services
or the Business Administrator.
D.Â
The Health Department, Fire Department, or their designees shall,
while an establishment is undergoing otherwise mandated inspections,
inspect for compliance with this article.
E.Â
An owner, manager, operator, or employee of an establishment regulated
by this article shall inform persons violating this article of the
appropriate provisions thereof.
F.Â
Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, an employee
or private citizen may bring legal action to enforce this article.
G.Â
In addition to the remedies provided by the provisions of this section,
the Department of Health or the Business Administrator or any person
aggrieved by the failure of the owner, operator, manager, or other
person in control of a public place or a place of employment to comply
with the provisions of this article may apply for injunctive relief
to enforce those provisions in any court of competent jurisdiction.
This article shall not be interpreted or construed to permit
smoking where it is otherwise restricted by other applicable laws.
If any provision, clause, sentence, or paragraph of this article
or the application thereof to any person or circumstances shall be
held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect the other provisions
of this article which can be given effect without the invalid provision
or application, and to this end the provisions of this article are
declared to be severable.
A.Â
A person who smokes in an area where smoking is prohibited by the
provisions of this article shall be guilty of an infraction, punishable
by a fine not exceeding $25.
B.Â
A person who owns, manages, operates, or otherwise controls a public
place or place of employment and who fails to comply with the provisions
of this article shall be guilty of an infraction, punishable by:
C.Â
In addition to the fines established by this section, violation of
this article by a person who owns, manages, operates, or otherwise
controls a public place or place of employment may result in the suspension
or revocation of any permit or license issued to the person for the
premises on which the violation occurred.
D.Â
Violation of this article is hereby declared to be a public nuisance,
which may be abated by the Department of Health or the Business Administrator
by restraining order, preliminary and permanent injection, or other
means provided for by the law, and the City may take action to recover
the costs of the nuisance abatement.
E.Â
Each day on which a violation of this article occurs shall be considered
a separate and distinct violation.
[Adopted 7-21-2021 by Ord. No. 31-2021]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any usable cannabis, cannabis product, cannabis extract and
any other cannabis resin, all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L.,
whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, and every compound, manufacture,
salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant or its seeds,
but shall not include the weight of any other ingredient combined
with cannabis to prepare topical or oral administrations, food, drink,
or other product. "Cannabis" does not include hemp or a hemp product
cultivated, handled, processed, transported, or sold pursuant to the
New Jersey Hemp Farming Act, P.L. 2019, c. 238 (N.J.S.A. 4:28-6 et
seq.).
An electronic device that can be used to deliver nicotine
or other substances to the person inhaling from the device, including,
but not limited to, an electronic cigarette, cigar, cigarillo, or
pipe.
A structurally enclosed place of business, commerce or other
service-related activity, whether publicly or privately owned or operated
on a for-profit or nonprofit basis, which is generally accessible
to the public, including, but not limited to: a theater or concert
hall; public library; museum or art gallery; bar; restaurant or other
establishment where the principal business is the sale of food for
consumption on the premises, including the bar area of the establishment;
garage or parking facility; any public conveyance; any facility used
for the holding of sporting events; recreational facility, shopping
mall or retail store; hotel, motel or other lodging establishment;
apartment building lobby or other public area in an otherwise private
building.
All parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing
or not, the seeds thereof, and every compound, manufacture, salt,
derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant or its seeds, except
those containing resin extracted from the plant products cultivated,
handled, processed, transported, or sold pursuant to the New Jersey
Hemp Farming Act, P.L. 2019, c. 238 (N.J.S.A. 4:28 6 et seq.).
Any place to which the public has access that is not privately
owned; or any place to which the public has access where alcohol consumption
is not allowed, including, but not limited to, a public street, road,
thoroughfare, sidewalk, bridge, alley, plaza, park, playground, swimming
pool, shopping area, public transportation facility, vehicle used
for public transportation, parking lot, public library, or any other
public building, structure; or any other public area, including beach
area.
The smoking, vaping, aerosolizing, burning of, inhaling from,
exhaling the smoke from, or the possession of a lighted cigar, cigarette,
pipe or any other matter or substance which contains tobacco or any
other matter that can be smoked, or the inhaling or exhaling of smoke
or vapor from an electronic smoking device.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the smoking
of marijuana or cannabis items in or on any indoor public place or
public place.
A.Â
Any person
violating any of the provisions of this article, upon conviction thereof,
shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $250 for the
first offense, $500 for the second offense and $1,000 for each subsequent
offense.
B.Â
Penalties
provided for herein shall be recoverable in a civil action by a summary
proceeding in the Municipal Court of the City of Atlantic City pursuant
to the Penalty Enforcement Law, N.J.S.A. 2A:58-10 et seq.