Rockland County has no wildland-urban-interface brush clearance mandate, but property maintenance codes require owners to remove dead vegetation and combustible debris near structures. Palisades Interstate Park and Bear Mountain watershed areas have heightened wildfire risk during March-May dry season.
Rockland County brush clearance is governed by town-level property maintenance codes adopted under the NYS Property Maintenance Code (19 NYCRR Part 1226). Clarkstown Town Code Chapter 189 (Property Maintenance), Ramapo Chapter 263, and Orangetown Chapter 25 require owners to keep properties free of accumulated combustible materials, dead vegetation, and fire hazards. No specific defensible space distance is codified like California's 100-foot rule. However, properties adjacent to Palisades Interstate Park, Harriman State Park, and Bear Mountain (Stony Point, Haverstraw) face heightened attention during the NYS DEC-mandated March 15-May 15 high fire danger period (6 NYCRR Part 215). The NY State Forest Ranger service monitors wildland fire risk. Private property wildfire history in Rockland is limited compared to upstate/Adirondack regions, but steep, wooded Hudson Highlands terrain creates local hazards. Town fire marshals respond to complaints about overgrown combustible vegetation near structures. Nyack and Piermont Hudson riverfront properties must also manage invasive phragmites under DEC guidance.
Property maintenance violation: $250-$1,000 per town code. City abatement at owner's expense with property lien. DEC burn-ban period violations: up to $18,000.
Rockland County, NY
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Rockland County, NY
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Rockland County, NY
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Rockland County, NY
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Stony Point, NY
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Rockland County, NY
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See how Stony Point's brush clearance rules stack up against other locations.
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