Legal Question in Administrative Law in California

Smoking policies can always be changed by home owner associations. The question is what they can legally sustain. Your balcony is your property, but the air around you is not. Just as governments and private companies have been able to establish that no smoking zones extend 50 or more feet from their buildings, this might now be an accepted rule for apartments and condos. In this regard you are lucky they are not trying to forbid smoking outright, but it is reasonable to insist you use an ashtray as where would the ashes go otherwise.? And where would the smoke go? If it bothers neighbors than a no smoking rule would probably be enforceable.

I'm not sure whether you are saying the HOA is tightening the rules, or relaxing them, by this new policy. An HOA is a kind of constitutional democracy, where the members have to live by the rules set by their elected representatives ...... up to a point. An HOA can overstep its authority just like Congress can pass an unconstitutional law. Setting outdoor smoking rules is kind of borderline overstepping it, as for private areas at least. You might want to think about term limits for the representatives you're electing to pass this legislation. Where it would go in court is unpredictable.