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GRAFTON, Mass. – Health Agent Lois Luniewicz frequently receives calls from apartment and condominium dwellers complaining about the smell of secondhand smoke in nearby units.
In Grafton, landlords and property managers are not required to make their properties smoke-free – but they may not realize, Luniewicz said, that may actually help them attract more tenants. To that end, the Grafton Health Department is sponsoring three sessions by Chris Banthin from the Northeastern University School of Law geared toward helping property managers understand the benefits of going smoke-free.
"A lot of landlords don't want to go there," Luniewicz said. "They feel they will have difficulty getting tenants. What they don't realize is there are a lot of people out there who would prefer it."
Luniewicz said she hears from them regularly when she fields calls from residents upset about smoke in the public hallways of their buildings or coming through the ventilation system from nearby apartments.
Banthin will give basic legal advice, provide a sample lease and condominium documents and share the latest market research on the demand for smoke-free properties.
Sessions will be held Monday, Oct. 1, at the South Grafton Community House at 2, 4 and 6 p.m.
"We would like to see as many buildings as possible go smoke-free," Luniewicz said. "It is a health hazard to deal with secondhand smoke."
For more information, call the health department at 508-839-5335, ext. 128.
Comments (2)
The Sign says Violators Subject To Fine. Who is going to enforce this? Are the Police going to look for smokers and write them a ticket or does the BOH have the right to fine people?
Forget second hand smoke for a minute. What about the fire danger? How many times have you seen apartment fires on the news where a cigarette is the culprit? It happened at our complex, someone had an ashtray on their deck with 1000 cigarette butts in it, hastily put the cigarette out and left for the day. Poof, ashtray caught fire. Luckily someone in the building was home, otherwise the entire building would have went up. Other people's property and pets would have needlessly be lost.
Accidents happen, but allowing people to smoke in apartments and condos is asking for it. Landlords, wake up!