Palm Desert, CA Environmental Rules: Defensible Space (2026)

Palm Desert Municipal Code § 15.16.020 amends the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code for the City of Palm Desert in Riverside County. Section 604.8 splits required Defensible Space into Zone 0, Zone 1 and Zone 2, and Section 604.8.1 ties each zone to Appendix A of the code and the Riverside County Fire Department Guidelines.

Zone 0 is the first five feet around the structure, including stairs, balconies, attached or adjacent decks and outbuildings, and it also covers the roof and the area under and on top of decks and patio covers. For new buildings, additions, new landscape and refurbished landscape, Section 604.8.2.1 prohibits fuels, including Combustible Materials and vegetation, in Zone 0. Section 604.8.2.2 adds that tree canopies are prohibited within 10 feet of new buildings, landscaped roofs are prohibited, and vegetation under decks, combustible mulch, wood chips and firewood are prohibited. Existing buildings with landscape installed before January 1, 2026 face a shorter list in Section 604.8.2.3.1, including no firewood, no new trees, roofs and gutters kept free of leaves and needles, and at least 3 feet of clearance for trees and vegetation above and beside roofs and eaves.

Zone 1 is a minimal planting zone with very limited fire-smart trees and extra spacing, per Section 604.8.3.1. Zone 2 reaches from the outer edge of Zone 1 to 100 feet from structures and decks, and Section 604.8.4.2 sets edge spacing by the height of the vegetation.

Across all three zones, Section 604.8.5 requires removal of all dead or dying grass, plants, shrubs, trees, branches, leaves, weeds and tree needles. New trees need a drip line at maturity at least 10 feet from any combustible structure, with crown spacing of not less than 20 feet in Zone 1 and not less than 10 feet in Zone 2. Branches within 10 feet of a chimney or stovepipe outlet come off. Section 604.8.2 also warns that any State regulation more restrictive than the ordinance applies.