El Dorado County, CA Environmental Rules: Defensible Space (2026)

070(D)(5) extends the Hazardous Vegetation and Defensible Space Ordinance's clearance duty across property lines. When a structure sits less than 100 feet from a property line of the parcel it's on, and hazardous vegetation on an adjacent improved or unimproved parcel presents a fire hazard to that structure, the responsible person for the neighboring parcel where the hazardous vegetation exists must remove the fire hazard within 100 feet of the structure, even though the structure itself isn't on their land. The Investigative Official determines the appropriate clearance distance through a visual inspection of the parcel, weighing local weather conditions, fuel type, topography, and the environment where the property or structure sits, rather than applying a flat rule.

This provision means an unimproved, vacant, or absentee-owned lot next to an occupied home is not exempt from vegetation-clearance duty just because it lacks its own structure; the neighboring structure's proximity is what triggers the obligation. The policy sits within the broader chapter finding that the County's chaparral, forest and grass-covered terrain, combined with a documented history of destructive fires including the 2021 Caldor and 2022 Mosquito Fires, justifies imposing clearance duties that reach beyond a single parcel's own buildings.