Coconino County, AZ Environmental Rules: Defensible Space (2026)

1 (generally not single-family homes or duplexes on individual lots) and sits within the mapped Wildland/Urban Interface. It divides the property into three distance-based zones and requires the whole defensible-space footprint to be reworked at least once a year, not just at initial construction. Zone 1, the 0-to-10-foot ring around buildings and decks, requires removing native brush from under trees, trimming canopies above the roofline, keeping tree canopies at least 10 feet apart, pruning shrubs to no more than 2 feet with 4 feet of clear space around each, and clearing dead material and combustibles from under decks.

Zone 2, 10 to 30 feet out, requires ladder-fuel removal so the lowest branch sits at least three times the height of any shrub beneath it, limbing trees up 6 feet, cutting grass to no more than 4 inches, and thinning shrubs enough for a person to walk between them; on slopes steeper than 20 percent, the treated area extends an additional 100 feet, to 130 feet total, or to the property line if closer. Zone 3, 30 to 150 feet, still requires ladder-fuel removal and dead-material clearance on level ground. 14, and unresolved violations carry the same civil fines as any other zoning violation, up to $750 per day for an individual.