Brookhaven, GA Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

The only place the Brookhaven Code names smokers is § 16-36, the rules for use and conduct in city parks, trails and greenspace, adopted to secure the quiet, orderly and suitable use and enjoyment of City of Brookhaven parks, trails, and greenspaces. Subsection (c)(7), titled open fires, smokers, or grills, makes it unlawful to ignite, light, or utilize any open fire, smoker or grill, except in permanent installations provided at the park or trail for such purpose. A portable smoker or charcoal grill brought to a park is therefore outside the rule; only the city's own permanent installations are allowed. The same subsection (c) sets park hours from dawn to dusk, with the Peachtree Creek Greenway open from 6:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m., and requires a special permit from the city to sell food items or to erect tents, canopies, tarpaulins, or other temporary shelter.

Away from park land the governing rule is § 12-146(a)(1), which permits open burning in a reasonable fashion for the purpose of cooking food for immediate human consumption. It then adds that, except for one- and two-family dwellings, it is unlawful to use charcoal burners or other open flame cooking devices on combustible balconies or within ten feet of combustible construction. That balcony and ten-foot limit is the one that catches apartment and condominium residents, because houses are excepted from it. Section 12-146(b) applies to every allowed fire: heavy oils, gasoline, asphaltic materials, plastic, rubber items, or any other material producing dense smoke or obnoxious odors cannot be used for starting or maintaining an open fire, and all burning must be on private property so as not to interfere with traffic on public streets or sidewalks.

Two related rules apply. Section 12-61(b) makes it unlawful to ignite a fire of any type within ten feet of a combustible building, including ignition under combustible overhangs and balconies, and it contains no exception for one- and two-family dwellings. Section 12-146(a)(5) prohibits open flames, including cooking and warming fires, in urban campsites as defined in Section 18-36.