The Plaintiffs, who are smokers, brought an action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, specifically that the court find invalid an amendment of the Association’s declaration banning smoking within the boundaries of the Project.  The property is an older building subdivided into four multilevel condominium units with split entries.  The Association’s Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restriction states that “[n]o nuisance shall be allowed on the Property, nor shall any use or practice be allowed which is a source of annoyance to residents or which interferes with the peaceful possession and proper use of the Property by its resident.”

Ms. Christensen received complaints about her smoking in her unit and did not agree with a proposed compromise of her having to smoke outside the building.  A nonsmoking neighbor spent thousands of dollars trying to seal her unit to keep the smoke out of her unit.  After a heated meeting of the Association, three of four owners passed an amendment to ban smoking.  After a two-day trial, the Court found for the Defendant, ruling that the “smoking ban was reasonably investigated, drafted and passed by three out of four owners after years of trying to address the problem by other means.  There can be no finding that the passage was arbitrary or capricious or done in bad faith.”  See Schrader, A., “Couple’s Smoking at Home Snuffed,” Denver Post, November 16, 2006.

No. 06CV1256 , Jefferson County (CO) District Court.