Deerfield Beach, FL Outdoor Cooking: BBQ & Propane Rules (2026)

Section 46-31 of the City Code regulates open burning citywide, and its exemption in subsection (d) is what actually permits backyard and patio cooking without a burn permit. The exemption covers 'the outdoor noncommercial preparation of food in a stove, oven, barbecue pit or fireplace for the purpose of cooking,' but conditions attach: the fire must sit at least ten feet from any property line; it must be properly contained; it cannot be used to burn yard waste, refuse, garbage or treated lumber; and a running water source with a hose at least 50 feet long must be within 100 feet of the fire, with permission to use that water source.

Fire pits set up on the seaward or shore-perpendicular side of a structure carry an extra condition: they must be shielded with an opaque structure or partition so the flame cannot be seen from the beach, directly, indirectly or cumulatively. These conditions apply to gas and charcoal cooking devices used for food preparation, not to unregulated open burning of debris, which stays prohibited under subsection (b). A separate, harder rule governs the sand itself: Section 50-112(h) makes it unlawful to 'build or maintain an open fire, barbecue grills or similar items upon the municipal/public beaches,' with no cooking exception at all.

That beach-wide ban sits inside the same municipal/public beach regulations that also bar glass containers, dogs and open alcohol on the sand. A propane, charcoal or wood cooking device used on a condo balcony, patio or yard answers to the Section 46-31 setback and water-source conditions rather than a separate 'propane rule,' because the code regulates the activity of outdoor cooking generally rather than singling out propane by fuel type.