Chino Hills, CA Fire Regulations: Brush Clearance (2026)

CHMC § 16.22.040 sets Chino Hills' brush-clearance standard for development in the Fire Hazard Overlay District. Subsection A requires a permanent fuel modification area around a project or portions of it for fire protection purposes, with the exact width set by the Chino Valley Fire District (CVFD) case by case, but never less than one hundred feet measured from the development perimeter. CVFD sets the width above that floor using four factors named in the ordinance: the natural ungraded slope on and around the project, fuel loading, access to the project and directly to the fuel-modified area, and the on-site availability of water for firefighting.

The area is not just a setback on paper. Subsection B requires continual maintenance and designates it common open space rather than private open space, so an individual lot owner cannot fence it off or treat it as a private yard. Subsection C layers in soil erosion and sediment control to keep the cleared buffer from scarring or eroding the hillside. For projects built in phases, subsection D requires the fuel modification area to be in place before the very first certificate of occupancy, not deferred to the last phase. Subsection E adds a separate access requirement: the development must provide firefighting vehicle access along the perimeter adjacent to the fuel-modified area, either a paved all-weather road at least 20 feet wide with grade no steeper than 12 percent, or 12-foot access ways spaced no more than 350 feet apart, unless CVFD approves otherwise.