Peoria, AZ Fire Regulations: Brush Clearance (2026)

Section 17-3(k) of the Peoria City Code prohibits any owner, lessee, or person in control of a premises from allowing plant growth on that property that is dead, dormant, or so dry as to be readily flammable or combustible. The rule applies regardless of lot size or whether the vegetation is otherwise legal, and it functions independently of the separate weed-height limit in Section 17-3(l). Where a property relies on a firebreak instead of clearing all qualifying growth, Section 17-2(m) defines 'firebreak' as an area of land that has had plants and trees removed to stop the spread of fire, and sets the minimum cleared distance at ten feet from the property line adjoining a vacant lot, or fifteen feet from the property line where the parcel carries a structure.

The 'plant growth' the rule reaches is defined in Section 17-2(bb) to include grass, weeds, vines, bushes, cactus, or trees, whether living or dead, which covers desert brush and dried landscaping common on unmaintained Peoria lots. Because Chapter 17's nuisance definitions apply citywide without regard to when the land was acquired or improved, the dry-vegetation ban reaches vacant parcels and occupied residential yards alike. Enforcement runs through the standard Chapter 17 path: a violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Section 17-51(d), with each day the flammable growth remains treated as a separate offense under Section 17-51(e), and the Municipal Court can order the condition abated within 30 days under Section 17-53 before the City steps in to clear it at the owner's expense.