Flagstaff, AZ Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Flagstaff Zoning Code § 10-50.90.010 states that Flagstaff has a greater wildfire likelihood than many communities in the United States, and Section 10-50.90.020 applies the resulting Resource Protection Overlay (RPO) requirements to any Development within the mapped RPO zone (see Section 10-90.30.050, Resource Protection Overlay (RPO) Map). The division runs alongside the Flagstaff Fire Department's Forest Stewardship Plan, which the Fire Department applies before the City calculates forest resource retention. Section 10-50.90.060, Forest, sets the minimum forest resource protection threshold as a percentage of site area: 30 percent in commercial zones, 20 percent in industrial zones, 30 percent in public and open space zones, and 50 percent in residential zones, per Table 10-50.90.060.B.2.a.

In the traditional-neighborhood transect zones the threshold climbs to 80 percent in T1 Natural and T2 Rural zones and 50 percent in T3 Neighborhood zones, dropping to 30 percent in T4 Neighborhood zones, per Table 10-50.90.060.B.2.b. Applicants must submit a resources survey and Natural Resources Protection Plan for Director or Planning Commission review, and up to 25 percent of the forest resources in an overlapping steep-slope area can count toward the site's forest total. A 2025 Forest Resource Pilot Program lets participating RPO parcels substitute a digital tree inventory and the Fire Department's Forest Management Plan for the standard percentage tables through July 31, 2028, provided no tree work starts before City staff approve the required plans.