The days of being able to smoke anywhere but your own yard in Hermosa Beach are quickly counting down, as the city council recently expanded the city’s existing smoking ban to include any Hermosa Beach public area, from alleys to parking lots to sidewalks.

The move comes as an expansion to an existing ban that covers the downtown core and city beaches as well as public gatherings. Parks, bus stops, hiking trails and plazas are all among the places that were spelled out as being places where smokers will no longer be able to light up once the changes go into effect at the end of August.

If a smoker ignores the ban and gets caught, they could face fines between $100 and $500, according to the Daily Breeze.

The city council has already announced it will tackle smoking in apartments and condominiums.

Hermosa Beach is located just over 20 miles southwest of Los Angeles and is home to nearly 20,000 residents.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.