| Smoking ban inside your condo - Bylaw passed Dozens of strata members at Vancouver’s tallest all-residential tower hooted and hollered after a motion passed Tuesday outlawing smoking in any of the building’s 237 units.
Roughly 70 strata members of the 42-storey Melville building in the city’s tony Coal Harbour neighbourhood voted to fine residents caught smoking, while about nine opposed the bylaw.
»www.vancouversun.com/health/Smok···ory.html
I don't smoke (I detest it in fact) but I'd sure be pissed having invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into a residence to have some strata council decide what I can do within the confines of my residence. The product is legal so I don't see how they should be able to pass a bylaw of this sort. The use of marijuana was complained about as well. I can see going after a party for this as it is still an illegal substance although we all look the other way.
Whats next? No Ikea furniture in the high end units? Vancouver nimbyism at its finest.
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Some hero's wear capes, mine wear combat boots. |
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PX EliezerPremium
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River
kudos:13 | What's a strata member? |
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I don't think this is right. You shouldn't be able to enact "new" rules by vote, only mediate the application of existing ones in the deed.
I don't smoke, in fact I absolutely despise it, but if you accept this on its basis, you accept that you simply do not own the property you live in, and can have onerous, life-altering rules voted upon you by decree, at any time and without any recourse.
That sucks. |
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 andybPremium
join:2003-05-29
SW Ontario
kudos:1 | reply to Thingamajig
Not enforceable or legal vote.Those people have nothing to worry about.Let the condo take them to court |
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NCRGuy
join:2008-03-03
Ottawa, ON | reply to dragonfly
said by dragonfly:I don't think this is right. You shouldn't be able to enact "new" rules by vote, only mediate the application of existing ones in the deed.
I don't smoke, in fact I absolutely despise it, but if you accept this on its basis, you accept that you simply do not own the property you live in, and can have onerous, life-altering rules voted upon you by decree, at any time and without any recourse.
That sucks.
That's how condos work. Don't like it, don't buy one. |
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 milnoc
join:2001-03-05
H3B
kudos:1 | reply to PX Eliezer
Had to look it up. First time I see this in English.
It's the owners i.e. those who actually own units and/or parking spaces inside the building. It's like shares in stock, except in this case, your total share points are based on how much of the building you actually own.
With only 70 voting members present for 237 units, it's obvious quite a few owners own more than a single unit. And they don't actually need to live in the building.
Renters aren't owners, so they don't get to vote. They're at the mercy of the owners who make all of the decisions.
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NCRGuy
join:2008-03-03
Ottawa, ON | reply to andyb
said by andyb:Not enforceable or legal vote.Those people have nothing to worry about.Let the condo take them to court
Actually, quite possibly legal. Don't know about BC strata law, but certainly in Ontario there are ways for condos to go completely smoke free. |
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said by milnoc:Had to look it up. First time I see this in English. It's the owners i.e. those who actually own units and/or parking spaces inside the building. It's like shares in stock, except in this case, your total share points are based on how much of the building you actually own. With only 70 voting members present for 237 units, it's obvious quite a few owners own more than a single unit. And they don't actually need to live in the building. Renters aren't owners, so they don't get to vote. They're at the mercy of the owners who make all of the decisions. There is also the possibility the others with ownership just couldn't bother showing up to vote.
So what goes on in Ontario or other provinces in regards to owning a apartment within a building? I take it there is some other terminology used.
Here in BC the owners elect a body of strata councillors within their complex to oversee the general upkeep of the property. They vote to raise monies for major expenses for the common areas within their complex, pass bylaws that should just cover the common areas (this smoking thing being a new frontier!). At the original purchase stage there are covenants in your contract specifically identifying the overall requirements of purchase into the building. This could entail no extravagant window shades for example which could deter the visual effects of the exterior of the building even though it is within the confines of ones residence. At least you know that going in. This new bylaw is outrageous.
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Some hero's wear capes, mine wear combat boots. |
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| reply to Thingamajig
Depending how the building was constructed, there may be air pressure issues in the building which 'pump' smoke from one unit/floor to another.
I've seen this issue in a condo building a friend of mine lives in. People in the penthouses have wood-burning fireplaces and when they fire them up, the smoke smell seeps down the halls and down 3-4 floors into individual units. These fireplaces vent through the roof - a good 50' above affected units.
The smell 'migration' occurs in all types of weather - so it's not related to wind direction or temperature inversion conditions, which was a principle contributor to the great 'pea soup' killer fogs of London, England.
Whether it's cigarette or wood smoke, or even paint/chemical odours, these can all cause problems for people with allergies living floors away from the source. |
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peterboroAvatars are for posersPremium
join:2006-11-03
Peterborough, ON | reply to andyb
said by andyb:Not enforceable or legal vote.Those people have nothing to worry about.Let the condo take them to court Unfortunately smokers have not got anywhere under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms nor is it a defined disability under any Human Rights legislation. |
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Something that gives me nightmares of my condo ownership days. |
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NCRGuy
join:2008-03-03
Ottawa, ON | reply to peterboro
said by peterboro:said by andyb:Not enforceable or legal vote.Those people have nothing to worry about.Let the condo take them to court Unfortunately smokers have not got anywhere under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms nor is it a defined disability under any Human Rights legislation. Not to mention the Charter doesn't apply to condos anyway... |
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balur
join:2010-04-28
kudos:1 | reply to Thingamajig
Wish my strata would implement this, i'm really sick of finding cigarette butts on my deck from idiots who throw them off the balcony from floors above. |
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If it's anything like in my building, I can understand why. There was someone smoking somewhere on the floor last summer and I could smell the smoke everywhere in my unit. It only lasted a few days, so I assume it was just a visitor. They also put up a sign earlier this summer because some smokers were throwing their cigarette butts off the balcony and one of them started a small fire in the grass below.
A couple of owners have had prospective tenants turn away because they could smell the smoke while they visited the units for rent (some floors have "resident smokers" and you can smell it even in the stairwells). |
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 donoreoPremium
join:2002-05-30
North York, ON | reply to balur
said by balur:Wish my strata would implement this, i'm really sick of finding cigarette butts on my deck from idiots who throw them off the balcony from floors above.
That would not stop it. Smokers will keep doing it. They are dirty and inconsiderate when it comes to disposing of butts. |
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 PaoloMr. Wireless
join:2004-05-29
canada | toss them back up onto their balcony |
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peterboroAvatars are for posersPremium
join:2006-11-03
Peterborough, ON | reply to donoreo
Re: Smoking ban inside your condo - Bylaw passed said by donoreo: They are dirty and inconsiderate when it comes to disposing of butts. You gotta love the idiots who think if they remove ashtrays or other butt receptacles that smokers will not smoke there. Then the same idiots get their panties in a knot when butts are thrown asunder in the vicinity. |
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| said by peterboro:said by donoreo: They are dirty and inconsiderate when it comes to disposing of butts. You gotta love the idiots who think if they remove ashtrays or other butt receptacles that smokers will not smoke there. Then the same idiots get their panties in a knot when butts are thrown asunder in the vicinity. Even with the ashtrays... At work there are "Butt Stop" cans (trash cans for cigarette butts) where the smokers are allowed to smoke near the building, but they seem to make it a point to throw them on the ground. Of course that means paying someone to clean up the mess regularly. |
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peterboroAvatars are for posersPremium
join:2006-11-03
Peterborough, ON | said by MichelR: Even with the ashtrays... At work there are "Butt Stop" cans (trash cans for cigarette butts) where the smokers are allowed to smoke near the building, but they seem to make it a point to throw them on the ground. Of course that means paying someone to clean up the mess regularly.
Those would be the small minority of self absorbed types we have numerous threads about in other venues of their lives. I'm sure cavemen found discarded bones in the common area or even in front of their caves from the same types eons ago. |
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