Loudoun County, VA Outdoor Cooking: BBQ & Propane Rules (2026)

11, sets a flat 15-foot clearance for open-flame cooking devices from apartment buildings, condominiums, commercial businesses, health care facilities, and housing for the aged or disabled. The rule reaches propane and gas grills specifically, along with hibachis, manufactured fireplaces and firepits; it does not distinguish balcony use from ground-level patio use, so a resident cannot cure the violation by moving the grill to a common-area walkway that is still inside the 15-foot band. The single carve-out in the text is for one- and two-family dwellings, which is why the rule functions in practice as a multifamily and condo-community restriction rather than a single-family-home restriction.

02 with police-officer authority to investigate and prosecute fire-code offenses within the County. This provision governs the unincorporated County; Leesburg, Purcellville, Hamilton, Middleburg, Round Hill, Hillsboro and Lovettsville enforce fire prevention under their own town codes, so a condo in downtown Leesburg is not necessarily bound by this section. Property managers of apartment and condo complexes are the most common enforcement target because the 15-foot line typically falls across every balcony on a building's face. 06, not to a general zoning board.