HOA Legi-Slate

The Colorado Clean Indoor Act ("Act") will take effect on July 1, 2006. As discussed in this post, the Act will prohibit smoking in most indoor public establishments in the state. The Act provides fines for those who own, manage, operate, or otherwise control an area in which smoking is prohibited if they fail to enforce the smoking ban. The possibility for managers and board members to incur fines under the Act makes it important to understand the Act's scope.

The Act explicitly states that smoking is prohibited in the "restrooms, lobbies, hallways, and other [indoor] common areas" of "condominiums, and other multiple-unit residential facilities." In addition, smoking is prohibited in the "entryways" of the indoor common elements of condos or multiple-unit residential buildings. Entryway is defined as the "outside of the front or main doorway leading" into the restroom, lobby, hallway etc.

Although the Act specifies condominiums and other multiple-unit residential facilities, the Act may affect your association, even if it is comprised of single family homes. Not only does the Act speak to condos and multiple-unit residential facilities, it also includes the "restrooms, lobbies, hallways, and other [indoor] common areas in public and private buildings ..." (emphasis added). The inclusion of private buildings which contain indoor common areas means that if your community has any indoor common areas, the Act applies. (For example, a community entirely comprised of single family homes that has a common area club house would fall within the scope to the Act.)

All associations need to examine whether their community, regardless of what type, contains any indoor common areas. For example, does your community have any such common areas as a central office, a club house, or a swimming pool with an indoor changing area? If you determine that your association has indoor common areas, you should adopt a no-smoking rule for these areas to ensure that residents are aware that smoking is prohibited in these areas as well as in the front or main entryways to those areas. If the association foresees trouble with enforcing the no-smoking rule, it should consider imposing reasonable fines for violating the rule. In addition, associations should carefully document any enforcement actions taken just in case it becomes necessary to defend against any claims that it allowed smoking in contradiction of its rules and the Act. In this manner, you and your association should stay out of trouble with the restrictions of the Colorado Clean Indoor Act.

in quoting the act in the second paragraph, you included a bracketed "indoor": "restrooms, lobbies, hallways, and other [indoor] common areas"

i don't see this notation in the original document. as such we interpreted this to apply to "other common areas", reasoning that our outdoor pool area was also subject to this act.

comment?