Newport News, VA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Buffer zone
- 100 yards of playgrounds/fields
- Who decides
- Parks and Recreation director
- Approval needed
- City manager sign-off
- Covers
- parks, squares, beaches, playgrounds
Summary
Newport News authorizes its parks and recreation director, with the city manager's sign-off, to prohibit or restrict smoking within 100 yards of playgrounds and sports fields in city parks, squares, and beaches.
Smoking may be prohibited or restricted in parks, squares, playgrounds, recreational facilities and beaches owned or operated by the city by regulations developed by the director of parks and recreation and approved in writing by the city manager.
For the purpose of this section:
(1)Recreational facility means an area that is within one hundred (100) yards of any playground equipment, any soccer field, any baseball field, any softball field, any volleyball court, any basketball court and any football field, or within the stands or seats in proximity to said recreational facility; and(2)Smoking means the carrying or holding of any lighted pipe, cigar or cigarette of any kind, or any other lighted smoking equipment or the lighting of, or inhaling or exhaling the smoke of, a pipe, cigar or cigarette of any kind, or the use of tobacco or tobacco products. (Ord. No. 5011-97; Ord. No. 6977-13, § 1)
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 81).
Full Breakdown
City Code Sec. 29-37.1 lets the director of parks and recreation, with the city manager's written approval, prohibit or restrict smoking and tobacco use in parks, squares, playgrounds, recreational facilities, and beaches the city owns or operates. The section defines a covered 'recreational facility' as any area within 100 yards of playground equipment or a soccer, baseball, softball, volleyball, basketball, or football field, plus adjoining stands or seats. The exact smoking-free boundaries and postings are set by parks-and-recreation regulation issued under this authority, not spelled out further in the code itself.
Violations & Fines
Enforcement and any fine depend on the specific parks-and-recreation regulations adopted under this section; the code section itself does not set a stand-alone smoking fine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is smoking banned in all Newport News parks?
How close to a playground counts as a covered recreational facility?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Newport News
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