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

Gulfport's open-burning ordinance, section 10-19, sets tight limits on wood- and charcoal-fueled recreational fires: a 15-foot setback from structures for a fire ring, a 3-foot-by-2-foot cap on the flame, and a ban on burning anything but clean charcoal, coal, manufactured logs or dry wood. Subsection (c) carves gas-fueled cooking equipment out of that entire framework. Any grill, camp stove, or similar device "designated for cooking" that runs on LP gas, butane, naphthalene, or another liquid fuel is not subject to the section's restrictions at all, provided it is not being used to burn yard waste or other prohibited material.

That means a propane grill on a patio does not have to sit 15 feet from the house, does not have to fit inside a 3-foot fire ring, and is not limited to the wood/charcoal fuel list, because it falls outside the definition of a regulated open fire in the first place. The exclusion is conditional, though: if a resident uses a gas grill or camp stove to burn yard debris, wrapping paper, or other waste rather than to cook, the device loses its exempt status and the burning is treated the same as an unlawful open fire under subsection (b), subject to the same fuel and material restrictions and the same enforcement in subsection (d).

The ordinance does not separately address balcony placement, distance from multifamily buildings, or storage of LP cylinders; those questions fall to the adopted Florida Building Code and Florida Fire Prevention Code referenced in Chapter 7 and Chapter 10's adoption sections rather than to this open-burning provision.