Sugar Land, TX Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Article VIII of Chapter 3 bans smoking, defined at § 3-139 to include inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying a lit cigar, cigarette, pipe, or other lit tobacco product, or inhaling, exhaling, or carrying a heated e-cigarette, in six categories of location under § 3-140: the enclosed area of a public place, the enclosed area of a place of employment, an outdoor arena, a public park, Town Square Plaza, and the TIRZ No. 4 Plaza. Because a public park and both named plazas are on the list, the ban extends outdoors at those specific locations, not just inside buildings.

Section 3-141 adds a 25-foot buffer around the entrances, exits, wheelchair ramps, windows, and ventilation systems of covered enclosed areas, except for restaurant and bar outdoor seating, and a tighter five-foot buffer around restaurant and bar entrances that lead directly to their outdoor seating. Section 3-142 exempts bars that were already operating on or before December 31, 2007, tobacco bars operating on or before December 31, 2023 that draw over 20 percent of revenue from on-site tobacco sales and restrict entry to those 21 and older, country clubs, and stage areas of enclosed theaters where smoking is part of a performance, provided smoke does not permeate into non-exempt areas.

Town Square Plaza and the TIRZ No. 4 Plaza can also permit smoking during a leased event or general rental if the city council adopts a resolution allowing it for that specific event. Property owners covered by the ban must post 'No Smoking' signs or the international no-smoking symbol with letters at least one inch tall in English under § 3-143, and cannot supply ashtrays in prohibited areas.