The Palo Alto City Council expanded its existing smoking ban on Monday night, voting to make it illegal to light up in the city’s commercial areas, which include the downtown area and Stanford Shopping Center, as well as dining areas.
As with other things in the high-priced city in Silicon Valley, fines for violators aren’t cheap; the first one will cost $250, while a second comes with a $300 price tag, according to the proposal.
Previously, the ban limited smoking to a minimum distance of 25 feet from the doorway of a business.
Electronic cigarettes had also been in the proposal, but were removed after the council decided more study and discussion about the health effects of those devices was needed, according to NBCBayArea.com.
The proposal has been in the works since at least June. The city has banned smoking in parks since October 2013.
Palo Alto is located in Santa Clara County in the southern Bay Area and is home to more than 66,000 residents.