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

Unincorporated Sierra County does not publish a specific maximum lawn-grass height the way many cities do. Instead, overgrown, dead, or dry vegetation is regulated two ways. First, Sierra County Code Chapter 8.20 (Public Nuisances - Health and Safety) defines a nuisance broadly as anything injurious to health or that creates a danger to health or safety, and gives the County a notice-hearing-abatement process (SCC 8.20.030 through 8.20.080) to compel cleanup, with abatement costs becoming a lien on the property. Second, because nearly all of Sierra County is high-fire-hazard forest and Sierra Valley meadow, the controlling vegetation standard is California's state defensible-space law, Public Resources Code section 4291. Under PRC 4291 and CAL FIRE guidance, owners must maintain defensible space (up to 100 feet) around structures, which includes cutting or mowing annual grasses down to a maximum height of about four inches. The County's statutory-reference table also points to Health and Safety Code sections 14875-14922 for abatement of hazardous weeds and rubbish. So there is no single 'grass over X inches is illegal' rule countywide; tall grass becomes enforceable when it is a nuisance or a wildfire hazard near buildings.