Raleigh, NC Fire Regulations: Brush Clearance (2026)

Raleigh's climate - humid subtropical with roughly 45 inches of annual rainfall, year-round green vegetation, and fuel moisture that rarely drops to dangerous levels - makes catastrophic wildland fire much less of a threat than in the western United States or the NC mountains and Sandhills. As a result, Raleigh has no equivalent to California Public Resources Code 4291 or a 100-foot defensible-space mandate. Property owners in Brier Creek, Umstead Hills, along the Neuse River Greenway, near William B. Umstead State Park, and in wooded eastern Raleigh neighborhoods do not need to clear a vegetation zone around their homes for wildfire purposes, though general best practices like keeping gutters clean of pine needles and maintaining a few feet of mulch-free ground directly against siding are still smart.

What Raleigh does require is vegetation maintenance for general nuisance and visibility reasons under the City Code and UDO. Grass, weeds, and herbaceous growth over about 12 inches on residential and commercial property is treated as a public nuisance and must be cut. Dead or dying trees and limbs that pose an obvious hazard to people, vehicles, or structures must be removed; the city can inspect and compel removal after notice. The UDO also imposes sight-distance clearance around intersections and driveways - vegetation above about 3 feet within the sight triangle must be trimmed to ensure driver visibility. In the event of a hurricane or ice storm (Raleigh periodically sees both, including the February 2014 ice storm and Hurricane Fran in 1996), the city runs storm-debris pickup programs, and property owners remain responsible for clearing debris from their lots promptly. Raleigh's urban forestry program actively encourages the tree canopy that gives the city its 'City of Oaks' identity, and removing healthy mature trees in certain zones may trigger UDO tree-conservation review rather than being encouraged. Removing hazardous trees is always permitted after appropriate city review.