Deltona commission backs drafting ordinance to ban smoking, vaping in parks after state statute change

Deltona commissioners agreed to have staff draft a local ordinance banning smoking and vaping at city parks and facilities after staff told the commission the state legislature passed a statute giving municipalities that authority.

Parks staff briefed commissioners that the Parks Statewide Association had pushed for the change and that the House and Senate had recently passed enabling language. Staff asked for commission consensus so the city could craft a local ordinance and begin discussions with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and code enforcement about enforcement options and signage.

Commissioners asked staff to include multilingual signage where parks serve diverse communities and to clarify exemptions. Staff said the state law includes an exception for unfiltered cigars; commissioners requested that the public be informed whether marijuana smoking would be covered. Staff replied that smoking marijuana in public parks is not permitted by state law and would be enforceable under existing statutes.

Commissioners asked that any proposed ordinance specify enforcement responsibilities and potential citation processes so both code enforcement and the sheriff’s office can act. Staff said they will meet with sheriff’s office leadership while drafting the ordinance and will bring enforcement options back with proposed language.

Next steps: staff will prepare draft ordinance options, including signage language, exemption language and enforcement approaches, and will meet with the sheriff’s office and code enforcement to obtain their input before returning the draft to the commission.