Lower Merion, PA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Section 109-4.1.E of the Lower Merion Township Code, added by Ordinance No. 3806 on January 17, 2007, defines smoking as carrying a lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, or other lighted smoking device, and prohibits it in all Township parks except in motor vehicle parking areas and any other smoking areas the Director of Parks and Recreation designates. The rule sits inside the parks chapter's broader list of unlawful acts in Section 109-4.1, alongside bans on washing vehicles, unpermitted organized group activities, unpermitted fundraising or commercial activity, and trespassing on adjacent private land, all enforced under Section 109-4 by the Township Manager's designee assisted by the Lower Merion Police Department.

Because the exemption for designated smoking areas is discretionary, a park visitor cannot assume a spot is exempt without a sign or designation from the Director; absent that designation, the parking-lot carve-out is the only place smoking is automatically lawful. The parks chapter separately regulates park hours (sunrise to sunset under Section 109-9), motor vehicle use, and group permits, so smoking enforcement often overlaps with an officer already present for those other rules. Section 109-21.A sets the penalty for any violation of Chapter 109, including the smoking ban, at a fine of not more than $600 for each offense, collectible before a District Justice, and Section 109-21.B separately authorizes police to remove from a park anyone violating a law, ordinance, or regulation, or otherwise disturbing the peaceful enjoyment of the park.