Lake County, CA Environmental Rules: Defensible Space (2026)

2 of the Hazardous Vegetation/Combustible Material Abatement Ordinance (Ord. No. 3082, adopted March 26, 2019) sets the defensible space duty for improved parcels, meaning any parcel with a structure on it. The baseline is a 30-foot defensible space around all buildings and structures, but the ordinance expressly defers to state law: wherever California Public Resources Code section 4291 applies, that state standard controls instead of the county's 30-foot figure. Beyond the baseline, owners must keep a 10-foot clearance next to any frontage road, remove all portions of trees within 10 feet of a chimney or stovepipe outlet, keep roofs free of leaves, needles and dead or dying wood, and maintain shrubbery and trees year-round.

2, the County Fire Official or a designee can require additional defensible space out to 100 feet from buildings and surrounding neighboring structures, with the distance set according to fire safety standards recognized by the ICC, NFPA, or Cal Fire and based on an on-site visual inspection weighing slope, fuel type, local weather and topography. 5 confirms it does not preempt or abrogate those state requirements. The duty is administered by the Lake County Fire Official (the Chief Building Official or an ICC/NFPA/Cal Fire-certified designee) with support from Code Enforcement, and noncompliance found after a notice of violation feeds into the same abatement and citation process that applies to the rest of Article VIII.