Dallas Passes Park Smoking Ban With Exemptions

On March 1, smoking in most Dallas parks will become illegal.

The Dallas City Council voted 8-6 in favor of a smoking ban, but there’s some noted exceptions. For starters, events in parks will be exempt, meaning the State Fair of Texas, which takes place in Fair Park, is not subject to the band.

In addition, golf courses, the city-owned Elm Fork Shooting Range and the future Trinity River Park are also exempt. The city-owned golf courses and shooting range raised concerns about a loss of revenue with a smoking ban. While the city owns the facilities, private contractors actually run most of Dallas specialized parks like golf and tennis courses.

The move to ban smoking in parks has gone back and forth for well over a year, largely on the question of exemptions. The Dallas Parks and Recreation Board was recommending the ban with exemption, something that members of the City Council previously opposed.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.