West Haven, CT Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Chapter 170 of the West Haven Code, adopted by the City Council on 6-25-1984 as Ord. No. 214, governs land run by the Board of Parks and Recreation in the City of West Haven, Connecticut. Three sections deal with fire and cooking on that land, and each requires permission from the Department of Parks and Recreation before anything is lit.

In the parking areas tied to beaches, parks and playing fields, § 170-6 bars anyone from kindling or attempting to kindle a fire, or cooking food, without prior written consent. On the beaches, § 170-13 uses nearly the same words: no fire and no cooking of any food without the prior written consent of the Department. In the parks, § 170-20 requires prior written permission to light, kindle or set a fire, and it adds a supervision condition: the fire stays continuously under the care and direction of the permittee from the time it is kindled until it is extinguished. The text does not name grills, charcoal or smokers. It bars the fire itself and, in parking areas and on beaches, the cooking of food.

The designated parking areas decide who is there. Tyler Avenue, Prospect Street and Sea Bluff are restricted to noncommercial vehicles of West Haven residents or taxpayers displaying beach stickers, while Morse Park, Second Avenue, Oak Street and Bradley Point are open to residents and nonresidents at a parking fee set by the Board (§ 170-4).

Neighboring rules apply on the same ground. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited in parking areas (§ 170-9), and on beaches and in parks without written consent (§§ 170-16 and 170-26). Trash goes in receptacles or is carried away by the person responsible (§ 170-12). Domestic animals on beaches are limited to paved walkways on a leash, chain or cord no greater than six feet long (§ 170-15). Anyone claiming to hold a permit must exhibit it when an authorized person asks (§ 170-30). Burning of refuse in the open is a separate matter under Chapter 67 of the code.