Yorba Linda, CA Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Yorba Linda Municipal Code Section 15.05.060 adds Section R1001.14 to the adopted California Residential Code, prohibiting wood-burning indoor or outdoor fireplaces, fire pits, fire rings, or similar exterior wood-burning devices under South Coast Air Quality Management District Rule 445, with an express exception for barbeques, grills, and other portable devices intended solely for cooking, meaning a charcoal or wood pellet smoker used for cooking is not swept into the ban the way a decorative wood fire pit is. Added Section R1001.14.1 allows gas-fueled outdoor fireplaces, fire pits, and similar devices fueled by natural gas or liquefied-petroleum gas when approved by the Building Division and designed to burn only a gas flame, and requires combustible construction to stay at least 3 feet from the device's vertical atmospheric column at R-3 occupancies unless a Building Division-approved hood and vent is installed; any chimney or vent needs a spark arrester under Section R1003.9.2.

Added Section R1001.14.2 separately bars burning wood or other solid fuels within a Fuel Modification Zone entirely, and bars wood and solid-fuel fires in devices other than permanent fireplaces within an adopted Fire Hazard Severity Zone or Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Area, unless the Fire Code Official determines the device's location or design should reasonably prevent a wildfire from starting, which matters directly for Yorba Linda's hillside, Chino Hills-adjacent brush terrain.