Plainfield, NJ Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

The cooking fire rule for City of Plainfield parks sits in Chapter 10, Article 12, City Parks and Playgrounds. Section 10:12-7 reads: no person shall build, light or maintain a fire within the parks except in a stove, grill or fireplace provided at the parks or brought to the parks for cooking purposes. Two lines are drawn. The container has to be a stove, grill or fireplace, and the fire has to be for cooking. A campfire or a bonfire on the grass fails both tests.

A visitor who brings equipment is covered by the text: a grill brought to the parks for cooking purposes qualifies. The section names stoves, grills and fireplaces and does not name smokers as a type, so a smoker has to fit that description and the fire has to serve cooking.

Under § 10:12-2, parks means any park, reservation, playground, playing field or other land owned by or under the jurisdiction of the City of Plainfield devoted to active or passive recreation. Park hours under § 10:12-11 run from 8:00 a.m. to one-half hour after sunset, Monday through Sunday, unless otherwise scheduled through the Superintendent of Recreation, who also schedules reserved use of facilities. Section 10:12-5 bars leaving ashes, wastepaper or other refuse anywhere in the parks except in designated receptacles.

A separate Division of Recreation rule in § 2:5-6.2(b)(2) prints, for public playgrounds and parks: no person shall make or kindle an open fire except in picnic stoves provided for the purpose, which is narrower wording. Tobacco smoking is a different subject: § 10:12A-2 bans smoking on the outdoor grounds of City parks, recreational areas and adjacent parking lots, with a $100.00 fine plus court costs under § 10:12A-4. Outside the parks, § 8:3-4 bans open burning of refuse or plant life.