Waco, TX Fire Regulations: Brush Clearance (2026)

City Code Sec. 16-63 splits brush-clearance duties by lot size. Properties smaller than five acres must be cleared of all brush, with no buffer allowance. Properties of five acres or more only have to keep a 100-foot band along any adjoining right-of-way or property line free of brush; interior brush on large acreage is not reached by this section. The current version was enacted by Ord. No. 2025-815, section 3, adopted November 4, 2025, which repealed and replaced a prior section 16-63 that had applied only to lots with structures on them, so the new rule now reaches vacant parcels too.

Enforcement runs through the notice procedure in Sec. 16-66: an owner, occupant, lessee, or person in control who is out of compliance gets seven days' written notice, delivered personally, by letter to the address on file with the water office or the appraisal district, or, if personal service fails, by newspaper publication or posting on the property. If the seven days pass without action, Sec. 16-67 lets the city either refer the matter to municipal court for prosecution or perform the clearing itself and charge the expense to the owner.

A notice mailed and returned refused or unclaimed is still treated as delivered under Sec. 16-66(b). If a second violation of the same kind occurs within a year of an earlier notice, the city may act again without giving fresh notice at all.