West Covina, CA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Section 16-17 of the Parks and Recreation chapter defines 'smoke or smoking' broadly: burning, inhaling or ingesting tobacco, marijuana or medical marijuana, holding a lighted smoking device, or exhaling smoke from a cigar, cigarette, pipe or electronic smoking device such as a vape pen. That definition folds marijuana directly into the same ban that covers tobacco, so a citation for lighting a cigarette in a posted park and lighting a joint there rest on the identical code section. Section 16-18(m) then makes it unlawful to smoke in any public park or public place within West Covina that the city has designated and posted as a no-smoking area, with signage 'of sufficient number' placed so it is readily seen by anyone in the area.

'Public place' under Section 16-17 reaches beyond parks to the West Covina Civic Center, open spaces such as the Woodside Village paseos, and any city-owned or leased public facility, including its outdoor areas and parking. The only exception is a location the city council has affirmatively designated and posted as a 'Smoking Area'; absent that posting, the presumption runs against the smoker. The ban sits inside Article II of Chapter 16, alongside the park's other unlawful-acts list (loitering past hours, open fires, fireworks, littering, unpermitted camping), so a smoking citation is written under the same section number as those other park violations. The rule was last amended by Ordinance No. 2314 in March 2017, which added the marijuana and electronic-smoking-device language to the original 2005 ordinance.