Mountain View, CA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

While Sec. 49 primarily lists enclosed places where smoking is banned, three of its eight categories reach outdoor spaces directly: outdoor amphitheater seating areas (both fixed and informal seating with a view of the stage), picnic areas, and dining areas, which the definitions section, Sec. 47, specifies includes streets and sidewalks available to or customarily used by the public for consuming food or drink. That means a restaurant patio or sidewalk cafe seating area in Mountain View is treated as a no-smoking dining area under the ordinance, not just enclosed dining rooms.

Sec. 5 then extends the reach further into open space: smoking in unenclosed areas is banned within a "reasonable distance," defined in Sec. 47 as 25 feet in any direction, of any doorway, operable window, opening, crack or vent leading into an enclosed no-smoking area, and separately within 25 feet of any unenclosed area already off-limits under Sec. 49, such as a picnic area or dining patio. Both distance rules carry a narrow exception for someone actively passing through on the way to another destination, provided the smoke does not drift into the protected area.

A related, separate rule bans smoking within 30 feet of any playground or tot lot sandbox area under Sec. 1, adopted in 2005, layering an additional child-focused outdoor buffer onto the general place-based ban. Enforcement runs through the city manager or designee, with the fire department authorized to collect self-certifications of compliance during annual inspections under Sec. 54.