Rancho Cucamonga, CA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Section 8.46.020 places an affirmative duty on every owner of private real property in the city to abate fire hazards on the parcel, including sidewalks, parkways, trails, and easements under the owner's control, and declares any unabated hazard a public nuisance. Section 8.46.010 defines combustible vegetation to include tumbleweeds, dead or downed trees, dead limbs and plant debris, dry invasive or noxious weeds, chaparral, and dry grasses over four inches in height. For undeveloped parcels where chaparral makes up more than half the vegetation, Section 8.46.040(B) requires clearing all vegetation within 50 feet of any structure, including structures on neighboring parcels, clearing to 30 feet from property lines and roads, removing dead or dying plant material, and keeping grasses cut to a maximum of four inches.

Large chaparral parcels of ten or more contiguous acres under one owner can instead maintain a 100-foot-wide cleared strip along their boundaries, cutting vegetation there to 50 percent of its natural density, under Section 8.46.040(C). The fire chief of the Rancho Cucamonga Fire Protection District enforces the chapter and can post or mail a notice to abate describing the hazard, the parcel, a compliance deadline, and appeal rights under Section 8.46.030. If the fire chief finds an extreme hazard threatening public safety, Section 8.46.050 shortens the compliance window to 72 hours from posting or mailing.

An owner may appeal the existence of a hazard, or any assessed fee, to a hearing officer within 20 days of the notice under Section 8.46.080, and a successful appeal refunds the appeal fee within 30 days. Uncorrected hazards can be abated by a district contractor, with costs, plus administrative and inspection fees, billed to the owner and, if unpaid within 30 days, added to the county tax roll as a lien under Section 8.46.070.