Charlottesville, VA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Chapter 24, the 'Smoking and Nonsmoking Regulations,' bans smoking only in the enclosed public places it lists at Charlottesville City Code § 24-5: elevators (except in single-family homes), health care facilities outside private single-patient rooms, public meetings with more than two attendees, theaters (except for performers), publicly funded art galleries, libraries and museums, city hall and other city-owned or leased buildings under the city manager's direct control, the designated no-smoking section of larger restaurants, schools and child care facilities, city transit and school buses, and food stores over 8,000 square feet.

Section 24-4 defines 'public place' as 'an enclosed area,' which is why the list stops at building walls. Restaurants seating 75 or more must set aside at least 20 percent of capacity as no-smoking under § 24-7, but § 24-7(b) expressly excludes bar areas, private-function rooms and seats located out-of-doors from that count, meaning a restaurant patio can remain a smoking area even if the dining room is not. Private employers with five or more employees must make shared indoor work areas smoke-free under § 24-6 unless every employee in that space consents in writing, but the chapter does not touch outdoor employee break areas.

Building owners may still designate indoor smoking rooms under § 24-9 and must post 'Smoking Permitted' or 'No Smoking' signs under § 24-10. Nothing in Chapter 24 authorizes Neighborhood Development Services, Parks and Recreation or the police to cite a person for smoking in a park, on a sidewalk or on an open-air patio; those spaces simply fall outside the ordinance's enclosed-area definition.