Wood and pellet smokers are permitted in Lincoln as cooking fires under eight cubic feet that comply with the Fire Code. Smoke may not drift onto a neighbor's property and become a public nuisance, and smokers should burn only clean, dry wood.
Backyard smokers qualify as cooking fires under Lincoln Municipal Code 8.06.140, which allows fires of less than eight cubic feet used for cooking purposes without an open-burning permit, provided they comply with Lincoln Fire Codes. Only clean, dry wood should be used; treated wood, garbage, and yard waste are prohibited fuels. The same ordinance makes it unlawful for smoke to travel onto a neighboring property and become a public nuisance to occupants, so a smoker producing heavy, persistent smoke that bothers neighbors can be cited. On apartment balconies the grill setback rules from the adopted International Fire Code also apply. No county permit is required for a residential smoker in the unincorporated area.
A smoker that creates nuisance smoke onto neighboring property violates LMC 8.06.140 and can be enforced by the Health Department or Fire & Rescue as a public nuisance.
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