Sonoma, CA Environmental Rules: Defensible Space (2026)

2, Defensible Space, Neighboring Property, to the 2025 California Fire Code as adopted by the City of Sonoma. It puts the maintenance duty on whoever owns, leases, or controls property that sits within an area requiring defensible space: that person must keep a defensible space of not less than 30 feet from any neighboring building, structure, or property line. The fire code official retains discretion to modify that 30-foot distance based on a site-specific analysis of local conditions, so the number can move up or down depending on topography, vegetation, and adjacent structures on a given lot.

This local ordinance is a city-level neighboring-property rule and sits alongside, not in place of, the state's broader defensible-space framework: CAL FIRE administers State Responsibility Area defensible-space clearance under California Public Resources Code § 4291, which governs land in State Responsibility Areas around the Sonoma Valley regardless of what the city code adds inside city limits. 1's combustible-vegetation abatement process, under which the fire chief can order and, if necessary, perform vegetation clearance and bill the owner. Both provisions reflect Sonoma Valley's exposure to wildfire, with the 2017 Nuns Fire and 2020 Glass Fire both burning in the surrounding hills.

010(A)(4) sets infraction fines of $100 for a first offense, $500 for a second violation of the same section within a year, and $1,000 for a third.