Pocatello, ID Environmental Rules: Defensible Space (2026)

The rule sits inside the Site And Building Development Guidelines, section 17.05.140, which govern development wherever the natural slope of a Pocatello lot exceeds 15 percent, per the applicability standard at section 17.05.120(A). Those projects go through a preapplication conference with planning and public works staff under section 17.05.130(A), and lots at 15 percent slope or greater require a geotechnical assessment under section 17.05.140(A)(5). Against that backdrop, subsection (A)(6) sets a default of retaining native vegetation, even where it falls inside a required setback, and carves out the wildfire exception so property owners are not stuck choosing between the vegetation-retention rule and fire safety.

The same title reinforces the wildfire concern outside slope areas: section 17.04.170(E)(1)(j), covering designated Sensitive Lands, requires that development in a wildland-urban interface area use firewise building materials and landscaping principles as set by city fire department regulations. Together the two sections mean a Pocatello property owner clearing brush or trees for defensible space on a sloped or WUI-adjacent lot is acting consistently with the code rather than against the vegetation-preservation default, while an owner who clears more than defensible space requires is not.