Ventura, CA Environmental Rules: Defensible Space (2026)

1 of the city's Wildland-Urban Interface Code amendments defines Zone 1 as a limited planting area within 30 feet of structures inside a designated hazardous fire area, and lists eight specific maintenance duties for anyone who owns or controls that land. Trees and combustible material must be cut back so nothing extends within 10 feet of a chimney or 5 feet of a roof, and leaves, needles and other vegetation must be removed from roofs, gutters, decks, porches and stairways. All dead and dying grass, plants, shrubs, trees, branches, leaves, weeds and needles must be removed, and live annual grasses kept to a maximum of 4 inches in height.

Live flammable ground cover and shrubs must be thinned so groupings are limited to a 10-foot diameter and spaced 5 feet from any other groupings, and flammable vegetation next to or under combustible decks, balconies and stairs must be cleared. Exposed wood piles larger than 55 cubic feet, roughly 2 feet deep by 5 feet wide by 5 feet high, must be relocated outside Zone 1 entirely, and tree limbs must be pruned to a height of six to 15 feet, or one-third of tree height for trees under 18 feet.

2 explains the purpose behind these specifics: increasing the ability of buildings to resist the intrusion of flame or burning embers during a wildfire. 10 of the municipal code.