Solano County, CA Environmental Rules: Defensible Space (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing standard
- Public Resources Code Section 4291
- Applies to
- High FHSZ vacation house rentals only
- Bundled findings
- CBC 705A-709A, access roads, water storage
- ASV-20 exception
- Defensible-space finding not required there
- Enforced as
- Short-term rental ordinance violation
Summary
A Solano County vacation house rental in a High Fire Hazard Severity Zone can be approved only if defensible space around the dwelling is established and kept up under Public Resources Code Section 4291, one of four fire-safety findings Resource Management must make under Section 28.75.30(A)(7)(b).
b. Except in the ASV-20 zoning district, a dwelling located in an area designated as a High Fire Hazard Severity Zone by the State Fire Marshal may be approved for use as a vacation house rental if the following findings can be made: ... (4) Defensible space around the dwelling is provided and will be maintained at all times in accordance with Section 4291 of the Public Resources Code and implementing regulations.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 1868, passed April 9, 2026).
Full Breakdown
30(A)(7)(b)(4) folds the state's standard, Public Resources Code Section 4291, directly into the fire-safety findings required before a High Fire Hazard Severity Zone dwelling can be approved as a vacation house rental. Before Resource Management can issue that approval, the applicant must show the required defensible space is already in place and will be maintained at all times, not just at the moment of permit issuance. That finding sits alongside three others in the same subsection: the dwelling must meet California Building Code Sections 705A through 709A (2022 Edition), access roads and driveways must satisfy the State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations, and, on parcels more than 1,000 feet from a fire hydrant, the property must carry 2,500 gallons of water storage beyond domestic and sprinkler needs.
All four findings have to be made together; defensible space alone does not clear the property for a rental permit if the other three are missing. The county reaches this obligation only through the vacation house rental ordinance. A dwelling in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone is barred from rental use outright under subsection (a) regardless of defensible space, and a High Zone dwelling inside the ASV-20 zoning district is exempted from the defensible-space finding by subsection (c), which asks only for compliant access roads.
30 is designated part of the county's short-term rental ordinance under subsection (A)(15), a rental operating without maintained defensible space where it is required is enforced as a short-term rental violation.
Violations & Fines
Renting a High Fire Hazard Severity Zone dwelling without maintained defensible space is enforced as a short-term rental violation under Solano County Code Section 10-24(b)(3): $1,500 for a first violation, $3,000 for a second within one year, and $5,000 for a third or later violation, in addition to possible non-renewal of the land use permit and potential state-level enforcement under Public Resources Code Section 4291 itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Solano County have its own defensible space clearance distances?
Is defensible space required for every rental property in the county?
What happens if defensible space lapses after the rental permit is issued?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Solano County
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