Bend, OR Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Vacant and larger unimproved parcels in Bend fall under a different vegetation standard than small developed lots. 005(B)(3) requires any tax lot greater than one-half acre (21,780 square feet), including undeveloped land, to establish and maintain a 20-foot fuel break along the entire perimeter of the property, covering all rights-of-way and easements that border it. The fuel break must also run along the boundaries of the property and around any structures, power poles, vehicles, trees, or other improvements on the property that would be vulnerable to a fire hazard created by flammable weeds, grass, vines, brush and other combustible vegetation.

005(B)(4) lets the City direct additional abatement measures for hazards the standard perimeter fuel break does not adequately cover, which matters for irregularly shaped or heavily overgrown vacant parcels. 005(B)(5), so a vacant lot bordering a street or alley cannot rely on the City to clear that strip. Waste vegetation removed to create the fuel break must be disposed of so it does not create its own fire hazard or spread to neighboring properties. 005(C) as an alternative compliance path if a standard 20-foot break is impractical given terrain or site conditions.

005(A) frames the whole chapter around confining fire spread between properties, an unmaintained vacant lot next to homes is treated as a direct wildfire exposure risk in the City of Bend, not merely an aesthetic nuisance.