Garden Grove, CA Environmental Rules: Defensible Space (2026)

020 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code adopts the 2025 California Fire Code with local amendments that create the city's defensible space program. 1 requires every new structure or facility adjoining land with hazardous combustible vegetation to be built in accordance with Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) Guideline C-05, the Vegetation Management Guideline covering fuel modification plan design and long-term maintenance. 3 puts the clearing duty on the property owner or occupant: weeds, grass, vines, or other growth capable of igniting and endangering property must be cut down and removed, and any fuel modification area, interior slope, or similarly hazardous area must be maintained under the same OCFA Guideline C-05.

1 authorizes the fire code official to clear flammable vegetation within 10 feet on each side of any highway or private street used for vehicular traffic, measured from the flow line, though single specimen trees, ornamental shrubbery, and cultivated ground covers like ivy or succulents are exempt if they will not readily transmit fire. 1 lets the fire code official suspend or modify these vegetation rules for difficult terrain, erosion danger, presence of rare or endangered species, heritage tree stands, or other unusual circumstances. 2 requires a 30-foot cleared buffer, a shovel and backpack pump extinguisher on hand, and a work stoppage when winds reach 8 mph with humidity under 25% before using welding or spark-producing equipment there. OCFA, acting as the city's fire code official, administers and enforces the program.