Truckee, CA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

The Town's smoking pollution control chapter was adopted to address indoor air quality: § 9.03.010(f) states its purpose is the regulation of smoking in enclosed places, including places of employment. Every operative prohibition in the chapter, elevators and public buildings under § 9.03.040, hospitals under § 9.03.050, meeting rooms under § 9.03.060, theaters under § 9.03.070, restrooms under § 9.03.080, service lines under § 9.03.090, restaurants under § 9.03.100, and office workplaces under § 9.03.110, is written to reach only enclosed spaces, a term § 9.03.020(e) defines as closed in by roof and four walls with appropriate openings for ingress and egress.

Section 9.03.120's list of prohibited public areas, retail stores, museums, grocery stores, sports arenas, and bingo facilities, likewise opens by covering 'enclosed areas.' The chapter then removes any doubt with an express carve-out: § 9.03.160(e) lists any area exterior to the building in which the establishment or facility is located among the places not subject to the smoking restrictions of the Chapter. No other Title in the Municipal Code regulates outdoor smoking in parks, on patios, or on Town trails. A resident lighting a cigarette on a restaurant patio, in a Town park, or on a public sidewalk is not violating Chapter 9.03, whatever restaurants or private landowners may separately choose to post.