Surprise, AZ Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Sec. 22-25, part of the city's Smoke-Free Arizona-aligned public-places article, requires every person who is smoking to do so at a minimum distance of 15 feet outside any enclosed area where smoking is prohibited, specifically to ensure tobacco smoke does not enter that area through entrances, windows, ventilation systems or any other means. This distance rule works together with Sec. 22-23, which bans smoking inside enclosed public places citywide, including restaurant and retail entrances, lobbies, waiting areas and workplaces, and Sec. 22-24, which requires every employer to provide a smoke-free workplace.

Because the enclosed-place ban alone would let someone light up immediately outside a doorway, Sec. 22-25 extends the smoke-free zone 15 feet outward from those entrances and openings, making it the operative rule for outdoor smoking near covered buildings, patios and doorways. Enforcement runs through the city manager or designee under Sec. 22-28, and violations of this article are civil violations under Sec. 120. Separately, in city parks Sec. 38-32(b)(10) bans smoking or vaping outright for anyone inside a designated dog park, layering an outdoor-specific ban on top of the general 15-foot buffer rule that applies citywide near enclosed no-smoking areas.

Business owners, operators or managers may also voluntarily declare an entire outdoor or indoor establishment nonsmoking under Sec. 22-23(b), which then binds patrons regardless of the 15-foot line.