Montgomery, AL Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Montgomery does not have a smoker-specific ordinance. Wood smokers, pellet grills, offset smokers, and wood-fired pizza ovens are legal at single-family residential properties. The International Fire Code adopted by reference in the Code of Ordinances requires that commercially manufactured cooking devices maintain safe clearance from combustible construction, and IFC §308.1.4 prohibits open-flame cookers — including wood and pellet smokers — on combustible balconies in multi-family buildings of three or more units. Alabama has no analog to California SCAQMD Rule 444 wood-burning restrictions; there is no city or regional No-Burn Day program in Montgomery. Persistent smoke that drifts onto neighboring property can be cited as a nuisance under the city's nuisance provisions in the Code of Ordinances if it substantially interferes with neighbors' use of their property — enforcement is complaint-driven and discretionary. The Alabama Forestry Commission can declare temporary open-burn bans during drought, which affect open fires but typically not enclosed cooking devices. Homeowners' association covenants in master-planned communities such as Wynlakes, Sturbridge, and Arrowhead often impose smoker location and screening rules independent of city code.