Dunwoody, GA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Dunwoody's Clean Indoor Air article does not ban outdoor smoking outright; instead it bans smoking inside 'public places and places of employment' under § 24-70, then uses § 24-72 to push that ban outward with a buffer: smoking may occur outdoors, but never less than 20 feet from any entrance to a place where indoor smoking is already prohibited. 'Establishment' is defined broadly at § 24-66 to include automobile dealerships, grocery and specialty stores, service and repair shops, salons and cleaners, amusement centers, professional offices, banks, hotels and motels, and restaurants, so the 20-foot rule effectively wraps around most commercial entrances in the city.

Section 24-71 folds in every enclosed building and vehicle the city itself owns or operates, meaning city hall and city vehicles carry the same entrance buffer. The article carves out several exceptions at § 24-73: freestanding bars that draw at least half their revenue from beverage sales, retail tobacco stores, adult cabarets and theaters, private residences (unless used as child care, adult day care, or a health care facility), property owned by the county, state or federal government, and hotel or motel rooms designated for smoking, capped at 25 percent of a property's total rentable rooms.

Outdoor areas of workplaces are also exempt from the smoke-free requirement unless the owner or employer separately declares the whole establishment nonsmoking under § 24-73(b). Enforcement runs through both police officers and city code enforcement officers, who may issue citations under § 24-76, and any owner, operator or manager must first ask a violator to comply before that person, rather than the business, becomes subject to an enforcement action. Section 24-77 separately bars retaliation against an employee or customer who exercises the right to a smoke-free environment.