[TheKidster]

This is an interesting ruling, it boils my blood but I'm interested in hearing how others feel about this ruling against personal freedom and property rights in favor of "the common good".

[Centurion2000]

Oeffler stated "smoke and/or smoke smell" is not contained to one area and that smoke smell "constitutes a nuisance." She noted that under condo declarations, nuisances are not allowed.

This is a complete BS ruling. If the HOA reserved the right to buy them out of their condo, that's one thing. Being a nazi is quite another.

[sauropod]

This is why I swore I would never again live in a neighborhood that was "deed-restricted" or had covenants.

Buncha little dingleberrys that get drunk w/ power b/c they have none in their real lives.

[Radix]

This is a joke right?

[SUSSA]

It's the same far left crap that's ravaging the country like AIDS ravages a body. It's "group" right vs individual rights. You have to have a group to have any rights any more. It's the same mentality that says you only rent your real property from the government and if they can get more rent from someone else they can take your property away from you and give it to the person or company who will pay them more rent.

[TET1968]

What about condo people who boil unspeakables and say they're just cooking dinner? That stuff stinks. Call the smell police. And what about that Indian couple down the hall, suppose you don't like the whole building to smell like curry?

[Old Professer]

Welcome to the Commons.

[GretchenM]

+

[Sunnyflorida]

Seems like kind of straight forward contract thing. When you enter an HOA you are bound by the contract. If their contractual rights are violated they should hire a lawyer.

Meanwhile maybe they could just quit smoking and the problem would go away.

[A. Pole]

Garlic is good for your health!

[Texas Songwriter]

Does this mean that after two homosexuals sodomize one anonther in their bedroom that they cannot smoke a cigarette?

[MaxMax]

Bump.
I like this thread.

[Tall_Texan]

Go to the HOA offices and smoke there. Every day.

[RetiredArmy]

LIberal judges ruling Amerika.

[TAdams8591]

WOW, how did I miss this one? Really not surprising. They've banned smoking everywhere else. The only thing left is the private property of the smoker.

And Yes I hate HOA's. They are too restrictive of personal rights.

[Old_Mil]

"We argued that the HOA was not being reasonable in restricting smoking in our own unit, nowhere on the premises, not in the parking lot or on our patio," Colleen Sauve said. The Heritage Hills #1 Condominium Owners Association was responding to complaints from the Sauves' neighbors who said cigarette smoke was seeping into their units, representing a nuisance to others in the building."

This actually is a legitimate problem. I'm currently renting a townhouse that isn't a free standing home (it shares two walls in common with the units neighboring it). Recently, someone new moved in next door and when they smoke, you can smell it in my (finished) basement. I've looked to see if I can identify where it is coming from, but haven't yet been able to identify a location.

[Recovering_Democrat]

This is a thorny issue. Normally, I'm one to say that if you join an organization, like an HOA, you agree to abide by the rules thereof. However, for any organization, even an HOA, to regulate private (legal) behavior within the confines of one's own home...I think that is absurd.

A sticky wicket, as they say.

Of course, when one rents a hotel room, one knows in advance of the non-smoking provisions. This is not the case here.

[SheLion]

View your tobacco taxes, a comparison of state excise taxes on cigarettes to state excise taxes on beer and wine, MSA payments to date, State laws, and links to other state-specific information.

Colorado Information

Tobacco Taxes

Colorado's excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.200
Colorado's excise tax collection for the
fiscal year ending June 2002: $58,518,000

Sales tax on tobacco products: 2.90%

Federal excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.39
Total federal excise tax collections in fiscal year 2002: $7,512,700,000 

Number of six-packs of beer that must be sold in Colorado to produce the same state excise tax revenue generated by one carton of cigarettes: 44.4

Number of bottles of wine that must be sold in Colorado to produce the same state excise tax revenue generated by one carton of cigarettes: 36.1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Colorado Smokers' Contributions to the State Economy - FY2002

In 2001, Colorado smokers comprised only 22.3%1 of the adult population in the state. Here is what they already pay because they choose to buy a legal product:

Smokers Pay Excise Taxes2
$ 58,518,066

Smokers Pay Tobacco Settlement Payments3
$ 97,988,866

TOTAL $ 156,506,932

• Working Families Pay More1

  30.6% of Colorado smokers had household income LESS THAN $25,000

  16.4% of Colorado smokers had household income EQUAL TO or GREATER THAN $75,000

  The impact of smoker payments on the incomes of working families was more than THREE TIMES the impact on higher income smokers. Those who can afford it least pay

[BnBlFlag]

I remember when this was a free country.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I lived in an apartment which had similar problems (neighbor's smoke heavily infiltrated my unit). After the maintenance guy slapped some duct tape over the wall holes under the kitchen sink of both our units, the problem mostly abated.

Methinks the property owner should have hired a good engineer instead of lawyers. Tobacco smoke isn't the only annoying thing that can carry through the air. Building openings for plumbing are a major source of air leaks. Differences in air pressure between units (like from bathroom and stove hood ventilation fans, or loose furnace exhaust piping) can also encourage air leaks.

[Jim Noble]

I hate the health Nazis, and I think if you want to smoke, you should be able to.

If, however, you ruin others quiet enjoyment of their apartments and make their furniture and clothes stink, I think they have a perfect right to make you stop.