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

Weed control in the unincorporated County is administered by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department as a wildfire-hazard program, not a generic blight ordinance. County Code Chapter 15, as amended by Ordinance No. 5170 (Section 4911, "Santa Barbara County Fire Hazard Abatement"), applies to all unincorporated areas within the Fire Protection District (excluding the Carpinteria/Summerland and Montecito Fire Districts, Vandenberg, and tribal lands). Section 4911.3 requires parcels declared a fire hazard to be cleared of combustible material to the fire chief's satisfaction, and Section 4911.4 authorizes clearing non-fire-resistive vegetation within ten feet of each side of fire-apparatus access roads and driveways. Defensible Space Standard #6 (§3.4.1) requires weeds on all parcels to be removed or mowed to under four inches. The abatement process (§4911.6–4911.13): the fire chief serves a written order identifying the hazard and giving not less than ten days to abate; certified-mail notice and posting precede a Board of Supervisors hearing; if the Board finds a hazard, it can direct the chief to abate it. Green grass, ivy, succulents and similar cultivated ground cover that does not readily transmit fire are exempt.