Norfolk, VA Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

City Code Sec. 30-102, added by Ordinance No. 50,248 and effective January 13, 2026, makes it unlawful, and a Class 1 misdemeanor, for anyone to set a fire, burn flammable materials, or otherwise create a fire hazard at any time on any beach or sand dune within the city, whether the person does it directly or procures someone else to do it. The only exception is grilling: the director of the department of parks and recreation, with the fire marshal's approval, may designate specific areas within city beaches where grilling is allowed under regulations the fire marshal sets.

A person who grills inside a designated grill area and follows the fire marshal's regulations is not in violation of the general beach-fire ban, but grilling inside a designated area while breaking those regulations, for example using a device or fuel the fire marshal has not approved, is itself a separate Class 1 misdemeanor. Norfolk's general code does not contain a separate, citywide rule limiting smokers, charcoal grills, or open-flame cookers on private residential property; the only quotable outdoor-cooking restriction in the general ordinances is this beach-and-dune provision, which the Norfolk Police Department and the fire marshal's office enforce, with grill locations set administratively by the parks and recreation director rather than listed in the code itself.