Palm Beach Gardens, FL Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Section 46-31 opens Article II, General Prohibitions, of Chapter 46, the parks and recreation chapter, and like the rest of the article was adopted by Ord. No. 12, 2011, section 1 (Exhibit A), on October 6, 2011. Its text is narrow and specific: it does not prohibit smoking itself in a Palm Beach Gardens park, but makes it unlawful for any person to throw away or discard a lighted match, cigar or cigarette within a park except in designated areas and containers. Read together with Sec.

46-15's park litter and recycling rules, which require trash to go into disposal or recycle receptacles rather than onto the ground, Sec. 46-31 functions as a fire-safety and litter control measure aimed at the discarding of smoking materials rather than a citywide or park-wide smoking ban. Because Chapter 46 sets no separate fine for the section, a violation is punished under the Code's general penalty at Sec. 1-18: a fine of not more than $500.00, imprisonment for not more than 60 days, or both, and each day a violation continues is a separate offense.

Parks and Recreation Division staff and Palm Beach Gardens Police Department officers patrol the city's parks and can cite a person who tosses a lit cigarette or match onto the grass, a picnic area or a play surface instead of using a designated ash or trash receptacle. The section applies at every city park in Palm Beach Gardens.