Santa Barbara County, CA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Chapter 15 of the Santa Barbara County Code (Fire Prevention) adopts and amends the California Fire Code (most recently the 2022 edition, by Ordinance No. 5170 adopted Dec. 6, 2022, with a 2025 update in process). The adopted Fire Code prohibits accumulations of "wastepaper, wood, hay, straw, weeds, litter, or combustible or flammable waste or rubbish of any type" from remaining on a roof or in any court, yard, vacant lot, alley, parking lot, open space, or beneath specified structures when determined to be a fire hazard. Each year the County Fire Department mails abatement notices to owners of parcels in County fire jurisdiction whose conditions potentially pose a fire hazard; the notice gives the owner approximately three weeks to clear the property. If the owner fails to act, the Fire Department may force abatement and assess all contractor costs plus an administrative fee against the parcel. Sales of property in high or very high fire hazard severity zones require documentation of a compliant Defensible Space Inspection under PRC § 4291 or the County's vegetation-management ordinances.