Hawthorne, CA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Hawthorne Code Chapter 8.48 bans smoking on all city property, including parks, recreational facilities, parking lots, structures and vehicles, and separately bans it in enclosed public places, service areas, outdoor dining areas, outdoor public events, outdoor seating areas and public transit stations or stops (§ 8.48.030). The ban also covers any enclosed common area of a multi-unit residential housing complex. Section 8.48.040 adds distance buffers: no smoking within 20 feet of the property line of a school serving preschool through grade 12 (unless the smoker is in an adjacent private residence), within 20 feet of any area already off-limits under § 8.48.030 (except while passing through), or within 20 feet of an entrance, window or air intake vent to a smoke-free enclosed area.

Section 8.48.045 carves out an exception for licensed on-site cannabis consumption lounges permitted under Chapters 5.100 and 17.90. Section 8.48.050 bars discarding smoking waste in banned areas, prohibits placing ashtrays or similar receptacles in those areas, and requires posted 'No Smoking' signage with letters at least one inch tall or the international no-smoking symbol at every entrance where the city or a property owner controls access. Leases for units in multi-unit complexes signed, renewed or continued month-to-month on or after February 1, 2022 must include a clause prohibiting smoking in enclosed common areas, with tenants named as third-party beneficiaries of that clause. Private property owners remain free to impose stricter no-smoking rules of their own under § 8.48.050(E).