Jacksonville Beach, FL Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

The Jacksonville Beach code does not use the word smoker, so the governing text is the open burning section's rule on cooking fires. Section 10-4.01(d) allows cooking fires in approved containers, ornamental fireplaces, chimeneas, and charcoal, gas, or electric barbecue grills at one- and two-family dwellings. The allowance has conditions: the equipment must be used in accordance with its listing, applicable codes, recommended fuel, and the manufacturer's instructions. A charcoal or wood-burning cooker run on a fuel the maker does not recommend falls outside the permission.

The subsection adds that these devices are not to be used around combustible material, and that they are not to create a nuisance or other type of hazard. Heavy smoke drifting onto neighbors is the situation the nuisance language reaches, and the open burning conditions in subsection (b) separately say burning must not cause a safety hazard or nuisance to residents.

Multifamily buildings are treated differently. Under subsection (c), buildings other than one- and two-family dwellings cannot use hibachi grills or similar cooking devices on a balcony, under any overhang portion of a structure, or within ten (10) feet of any structure. Permanently installed, listed equipment with piped LP or natural gas can be approved by the fire official.

The beach has its own flat rule. Subsection (g) states that there are no open fires, campfires, grills, or other cooking or heating devices on the beach, and the beach regulations in Chapter 6 repeat the same prohibition for the Atlantic Ocean Beach. The fire official, working under Chapter 10, Fire and Life Safety, is the officer the section names for approvals.