Tuolumne County, CA Landscaping Rules: Grass Height Limits (2026)

There is no Tuolumne County ordinance capping the height of a green, watered residential lawn. Tall grass becomes a regulated problem only when it dries out and creates a wildfire hazard. The control comes from the County Hazardous Vegetation Management Ordinance, codified at Chapter 8.14 of the Tuolumne County Ordinance Code (adopted by Ord. 3428 in 2022), which applies to all parcels in the unincorporated areas of the county. Section 8.14.030(N) defines the Reduced Fuel Zone and lists, as its first example, to 'cut or mow annual grass down to a maximum height of 4 inches.' The zone also calls for creating horizontal and vertical spacing between grass, shrubs, and trees and removing fallen leaves, needles, and dead vegetation. Layered on top of the county rule is California Public Resources Code 4291, the statewide defensible-space law, which requires 100 feet of defensible space (or to the property line) around buildings and structures in the State Responsibility Area, with an ember-resistant zone within 5 feet and an intensive fuel-reduction zone from 5 to 30 feet. Chapter 8.14 is enforced by the Fire Prevention Division of the Tuolumne County Fire Department. So the operative 'grass height' standard is the 4-inch dry-grass fuel rule, not a tidiness code; healthy, mature, scenic trees and crops are expressly not required to be removed.