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

Vacaville Municipal Code Chapter 9.65 (Smoking Restrictions) is the operative city framework on smoking in public places, and works alongside the statewide Smoke-Free Workplace Act (Cal. Labor Code Section 6404.5), the California Indoor Clean Air Act, and Cal. Health & Safety Code Section 104495 (the 25-foot rule around playgrounds and youth sports areas). Chapter 9.65 prohibits smoking in all enclosed areas available to and customarily used by the general public and in all businesses patronized by the public, including retail stores, hotels and motels, pharmacies, banks, and offices. The chapter specifically addresses restaurants with an occupied capacity of 50 or more persons (with provisions historically allowing designated smoking areas not exceeding 60% of seating capacity, since superseded in many respects by the Cal. Labor Code Section 6404.5 statewide enclosed-workplace ban) and the waiting rooms, hallways, wards, and semiprivate rooms of health facilities including hospitals, clinics, and medical offices. Public schools, other public facilities under the control of public agencies customarily used by the general public, and sports arenas and convention halls are also covered, with limited carve-outs for designated smoking areas. Employers are required to provide smoke-free areas for nonsmokers within existing facilities to the maximum extent possible, though employers are not required to incur expenses for structural or physical modifications. Chapter 9.66 (Vending Machines - Cigarettes and Tobacco) regulates vending-machine placement to restrict minor access. Vacaville has not adopted a comprehensive outdoor-smoking ordinance covering parks, beaches, sidewalks, transit stops, multi-family housing common areas, or outdoor dining of the breadth seen in Berkeley, Sacramento, San Francisco, or Davis; outdoor protections in Vacaville come principally from state statutes (Cal. Health & Safety Code Section 104495's 25-foot rule around playgrounds and youth sports, the Cal. Government Code Section 7596 et seq. ban in state and local government buildings, and the statewide e-cigarette restrictions of SB 7-X2). Where Vacaville operates parks and recreation facilities, posted Parks and Recreation Department rules typically prohibit smoking on the playing surface and within designated areas under the city's park rules adopted pursuant to Chapter 12 (Streets and Sidewalks) and Title 9 generally.