Pinal County, AZ Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

PCDSC Chapter 6.10, Residential Fireplace Restrictions, exists to cut particulate air pollution from indoor wood burning, and under § 6.10.010(B) it only applies to residential woodburning devices located within "Area A" as defined in A.R.S. § 49-541, a specific band of townships and ranges spanning parts of the county (Townships 1 north and 1 through 3 south, ranges 7 through 9 east). Even inside that zone, § 6.10.040 lists what is not regulated or prohibited by the chapter: Section 6.10.040(B) exempts cookstoves, barbecue grills, and similar appliances designed primarily for cooking, and § 6.10.040(C) separately exempts fire pits, barbecue grills, and other outdoor fireplaces.

The definitions in § 6.10.020 reinforce this: a "residential woodburning device" is defined to exclude barbecue devices, fire pits, or mesquite grills outright, and a "fireplace" under the chapter is defined as intended for occasional recreational or aesthetic use, "not for cooking." Chapter 6.10's certification and installation rules in § 6.10.030, which require EPA-certified or gas/electric log-insert fireplaces and woodstoves, therefore never reach a backyard smoker, wood pellet grill, or open fire pit used for cooking.