Bonita Springs, FL Outdoor Cooking: BBQ & Propane Rules (2026)

Chapter 22, article III of the Bonita Springs Code prohibits open burning. Sec. 22-43 makes it a violation to ignite, permit or maintain any open fire unless the article specifically allows it. Sec. 22-45(1) is the exception that covers gas cooking: grills, camp stoves and other devices that solely burn liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, butane, naphthalene or other liquid fuel. The exception applies only when the activity is conducted in a manner which is not a nuisance or an unsafe fire.

Those two terms carry the real limits. A nuisance is sparks, ash, smoke or odor that interfere with the reasonable use and enjoyment of property, including a leasehold interest, by anyone other than the person cooking, or that create an unreasonable health hazard to others. A code enforcement officer or the fire chief weighs atmospheric conditions such as high winds and wind direction, the size of the fire, the type of fuel, the size of the parcel, where the fire sits on the parcel, where structures and vegetation sit compared to the fire, and the sensitivity of others to smoke, including asthma and allergies. An unsafe fire is one that puts structures, personal property or vegetation at immediate risk of accidental combustion, and the evaluation adds the availability of water or extinguishing equipment and the time of day and duration of the fire.

The code defines a grill as a device designed and used for cooking where a combustion source is elevated off the ground and food is cooked over open flame or coals using an approved fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas is on the approved fuel list. Sec. 22-44(5) says that where this article and another law differ, the more restrictive provision applies. This volume of the code contains no separate propane grill placement rule for balconies or multifamily buildings, and Sec. 22-45(1) does not mention either.