Albany, OR Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Albany Municipal Code § 7.28.160 is the city's rule for cooking and campfires in parks. Subsection (1) confines fires in park areas to two things: barbecue stands, pits, or fireplaces provided for that purpose, and portable stoves in established campsites or picnic areas where fires are permitted. A smoker, grill, or firepit set up anywhere else in a park is outside both categories. Subsection (2) adds a duty that stays with the person: no fire in a park area can be left unattended, and every fire must be extinguished by the user before leaving the park area.

Park is defined broadly in § 7.28.010(4) as a park, playground, beach, recreation center, trail, multiuse path, or any other area in the City owned or used by the City and devoted to active or passive recreation. Picnic areas add a sharing rule: § 7.28.080 requires that use of the individual fireplaces together with the tables and benches follow the rule of first come, first served, and no one can use a picnic area to the exclusion of others, unless a Director-approved reservation is in place under §§ 7.28.250 and 7.28.260.

Other park rules shape when and where a cooking fire is possible. Parks are closed to the public between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. daily unless otherwise posted (§ 7.28.240), and the Director can close any park or portion of a park to certain uses at any time. Camping in a park requires the Director's written authorization (§ 7.28.245). Separately, at campsites permitted under Chapter 7.20, open flame, propane, heat producing appliances, and smoking or vaping are barred without prior approval from the Albany fire chief or a designee (§ 7.20.045).

Enforcement runs through the Director and park attendants. Under § 7.28.310 they can eject a person violating the Albany Municipal Code or state law, can bar return for up to six months, and can seize property used in violation of the chapter. Someone who returns in violation of that directive is guilty of criminal trespass. The text of § 7.28.160 does not address backyard smokers or residential grills, so this page states only what the code prints for City of Albany, Oregon parks.