Resident says new 50‑foot no‑smoking rule at Colonial complex pushes smokers close to her home

Anne Sullivan of Cottage Street addressed the council during public comment to describe a dispute with Colonial 1 and 2 over a recently enacted "no smoking within 50 feet of building" policy at those buildings.

Sullivan said the management designated a portion of a parking lot as a smoking area that is roughly 9 feet from her property line, and that cigarette smoke "waft[ed] through my house" when windows are open in summer. She told the council she has lived at her property for six years and said the designated smoking area sits beneath a tree and near dry leaf debris. Sullivan said she was concerned about discarded butts creating a fire risk to a 140‑year‑old house and an adjacent wood fence.

Sullivan told the council she raised the issue with building management, city codes and the fire department. According to the transcript, codes staff said there was "no code for this situation," and the fire department told her, "if there's a fire there, we'll just come and put it out." The transcript records no follow‑up action by the council at the meeting.

Sullivan also said an unsecured bench had been placed near the same property line but that management later removed it; chairs remain in the area, and she described wheelchairs, vehicles and pedestrian traffic in the parking lot near her fence line. She asked the council to look into the situation so residents in that cluster can "all live with" a mutually acceptable solution.

No ordinance, citation, inspection result or enforcement action is recorded in the meeting transcript; the council took the comment under public comment and did not vote on any related enforcement action that evening.