"I know that I am inhaling smoke": Neighbors of senior apartments in Wheatland want smoking ban enforced
WHEATLAND -- At quiet senior living apartments in Wheatland, neighbors are making some noise.
The screech of packing tape rang through Carolyn Hartshorn's Donner Trail Manor apartment the night of Nov. 29 as she prepared for a big move.
"I'd like to stay. I mean, they've fixed them up nice. But I can't," said Hartshorn.
Boxes were stacked as the 13-year resident said she's had enough, claiming neighbors continue to violate the apartment's no-smoking policy.
"I'm so scared. That's why I've got to get up and leave," said Hartshorn.
Fearing a risk to her own health, she said the vaping and smoking of neighbors is causing quite the stink as it seeps through the apartment's air vents.
"It's got a smell about it, it's all in my house, in my bedding, in my clothes," said Hartshorn.
She is not alone. An 89-year-old cancer survivor and resident, Linda Rosser, is also worried for her health.
"I get runny eyes and a runny nose, and then I know that I am inhaling smoke," said Rosser.
Another tenant, Laura Fry, said the smoke smell in her apartment has faded since she moved in two years ago and asked her neighbor to only smoke outside. She can still smell the remnants on a hot day.
"Oh, in the summertime, it's terrible," said Fry.
Donner Trail Manor does not allow smoking on the premises. Signs outside serve as a reminder of the "Smoke-Free Lease Policy" agreement each tenant signed.
The lease provided to CBS13 by a neighbor states the "resident and members of resident's household shall not smoke anywhere in any of the common areas or adjoining grounds of such building or other parts of the community" in order to "mitigate the irritation and known health effects of secondhand smoke," among other listed reasons.
Neighbors feel they are not being heard or taken seriously after they say they have complained several times to management and the owners, even though the lease also reads residents should "promptly give Landlord a written statement of any incident where tobacco smoke is migrating into the resident's unit from sources outside the resident's apartment unit."
Hartshorn expects more of a "smoke-free" complex.
"I go to bed every night and I think, 'What time is she going to start vaping?" And a lot of times, I can't even sleep," said Hartshorn.
The neighbors, fearing the risk of secondhand smoke or vape exposure, organized an effort to try and crack down on those breaking the rules.
"I formed a tenants association so we would have some right to where we lived and some say-so," said Fry. "I want these seniors to be treated right."
Both Hartshorn and Rosser say at times they have been smoked out of their own apartments, finding other places to sleep on nights when the smell became too much.
"I've gone out there into my truck and slept in it. I've gone down to the Chevron and sat outside for two, three hours at a time," said Hartshorn.
"There were a couple of nights that I tried to stay too long and I thought it's too late to go to my son's or my daughter's. I went out and slept in my pickup," said Rosser.
They claim complaints to management and the property owner Solari have been ignored and they want action, one way or another.
"If they're not going to enforce the rules they have come up with, then I guess we will have to resort to a lawsuit," said Rosser.
CBS13 called apartment management Tuesday but has not yet heard back for comment on this story. Attempts to reach the property owner Solari Enterprises Inc. were also unsuccessful.
