Pismo Beach, CA Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Section 8.04.040, adopted by Ordinance O-2025-004 in 2025, designates the Fire Hazard Severity Zones as recommended by the Office of the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Government Code Section 51178, dated March 10, 2025, as the Fire Hazard Severity Zones for the City of Pismo Beach. Subsection B says the zones are depicted on the map entitled Local Responsibility Area - Fire Hazard Severity Zones, attached to the ordinance as Exhibit A, reproduced in reduced form as Figure 1 in the code, and on file in the office of the Pismo Beach City Clerk and the Pismo Beach Fire Department. The map is incorporated by reference. The section prints no street list, so parcel-level questions go to that map.

Section 8.04.010 adopts the 2025 California Fire Code and the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, with appendices, as the Fire Prevention Regulations of the City of Pismo Beach, except as modified in Chapter 8.08. Section 8.04.020 designates the Fire Chief as the fire code official. Amended Fire Code Section 103.3.1 gives the chief and designated members of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection/Pismo Beach Fire Department the authority of peace officers or public officers, and Section 104.5.1 lets the fire code official issue citations. Under amended Section 112.1, appeals of fire code official decisions go to a board of appeals appointed as needed by the City Council, with staff services from the City Manager and a fee consistent with fees established by the City Council.

Two other printed rules tie to fire severity. Section 15.08.020 adds Residential Code Section R904.5, which says wood shake or shingle roof coverings shall not be installed on any building, with an exception for a wood shake or shingle system listed as a Class A-rated roof covering. And § 17.38.145 of the 1998 Zoning Code bars two-residential unit developments and urban lot splits in the R-1 and RSL zones above the intersection of Longview Avenue and Stratford Street in the Pismo Heights planning area because of very high fire hazard severity zones. Chapter 17.119 of the 1983 Zoning Ordinance prints a matching bar for the R-1 zone.