Colorado Springs, CO Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Colorado Springs has no ordinance specifically regulating residential backyard smokers, pellet grills, or wood-fired ovens during normal conditions. Standard fire-clearance rules under the IFC apply, requiring safe separation from combustible construction. The critical wrinkle is seasonal Fire Restrictions issued by CSFD and El Paso County Sheriff. Stage 1 restrictions, often declared during late spring through fall, typically prohibit wood-burning devices including offset smokers and wood-fired ovens but allow propane and natural-gas smokers as well as pellet grills with sealed fuel hoppers (because pellet grills produce minimal embers and have controlled combustion). Stage 2 restrictions prohibit virtually all outdoor cooking with open flames. Properties in the WUI overlay zone face additional defensible-space requirements under the 2021 IWUIC: a wood smoker must be operated on a non-combustible surface with at least 10 feet of cleared fuel-free zone in Zone 1 of defensible space. Persistent dense smoke that materially interferes with neighbors' use of their property can be cited under City Code Ch. 9.5 (Nuisances). The Colorado Air Pollution Control Division does not regulate residential smokers. HOA covenants in Briargate, Stetson Hills, and other planned communities frequently impose stricter rules.