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

Kings County does not set a specific inch limit for grass. Instead, two County ordinances apply to overgrown vegetation in the unincorporated area. Under the weed-abatement ordinance (Code Chapter 10, Article II), it is unlawful for an owner to accumulate 'flammable waste material' that constitutes a fire hazard; Sec. 10-37 defines that term to include 'dry grass, weeds, stubble, brush, rank growths' and similar combustibles, but excludes vegetation on grain, grazing or forest land. Separately, the public-nuisance ordinance (Chapter 14, Article IV) declares it a nuisance under Sec. 14-36(6) to maintain 'dead, decayed, diseased, dried or hazardous trees, weeds, stubble, brush, rank growths, overgrown vegetation ... which constitute a fire hazard or other danger to public health or safety, or which is likely to harbor rats, vermin or other disease vectors.' Enforcement is condition-based and triggered mainly in residential and developed areas rather than working farmland. The right-to-farm protection in Sec. 14-38 shields lawful agricultural operations. Where a parcel sits in a State Responsibility Area (foothills/wildland), California PRC 4291 separately requires defensible space and CAL FIRE recommends annual grass be mowed to about four inches.