Stafford Township, NJ Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Article II of Chapter 179 (Smoking) of the Stafford Township Code covers outdoor smoking on Township recreation land. Section 179-7 states that the Township, acting under N.J.S.A. 40:48-1 and 40:48-2, deems it in the public interest to prohibit smoking in all Township parks, playgrounds and recreational areas. The word "all" matters: the section does not carve out a pavilion, a ball field, a parking lot or a quiet corner of a park, and it names three categories of place (parks, playgrounds and recreational areas) so a recreation facility that is not called a park is still covered. Article II was adopted 9-3-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-74, and Section 179-7 was amended 12-19-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-95.

Section 179-8 sets the notice rule. The prohibition must be conspicuously posted by a sign stating "No Smoking Permitted Beyond This Point", and the sign must reference the applicable Code provision. In practice that means the sign itself points a visitor to Chapter 179, so a person standing at the edge of a Township park can read both the instruction and the legal source for it.

The ban applies only to Township-owned parks, playgrounds and recreational areas. It is a separate article from Article I, which deals with public school buildings and school grounds in the Township and carries its own, lower penalty. Section 179-9 supplies the penalty for the parks article, and it is written broadly: it reaches any person violating or failing to comply with any provision of Article II, so it applies to the smoking prohibition itself and to the sign provision. The sentence is imposed by the Municipal Court Judge, who chooses among a fine, jail time, community service or any combination of the three.