Calaveras County, CA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Unincorporated Calaveras County's primary tool against overgrown weeds is wildfire-driven, not aesthetic. The County Code Compliance division explicitly states it does not enforce overgrown vegetation and directs residents to their fire department for fire-hazard concerns. Hazardous vegetation is governed by California Public Resources Code Section 4291, which requires property owners in State Responsibility Areas (most of rural Calaveras) to maintain 100 feet of defensible space around structures, clearing dead and dying weeds, grass, brush, and combustible growth. CAL FIRE guidance applied locally calls for grass and weeds cut to roughly 4 inches, removal of dead vegetation, and separation between shrubs and trees, split into a 30-foot zone nearest the home and a 70-foot reduced-fuel zone. The County Fire Prevention office in San Andreas, along with local fire districts (such as Ebbetts Pass Fire District) and Fire Safe Councils, conducts inspections and can order abatement. When defensible-space or fire-safe clearing generates vegetation debris, the Calaveras County Air Pollution Control District allows open burning of that material only on permissive burn days and offers free yard-waste drop-off events as an alternative. There is no separate county grass-height or seasonal weed-abatement assessment ordinance like some valley counties operate.