Santa Barbara County, CA Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

The strongest maintenance duty for vacant parcels in unincorporated Santa Barbara County comes from the County Fire Code. Section 304.1.1 prohibits accumulations of 'wastepaper, wood, hay, straw, weeds, litter, or combustible or flammable waste or rubbish of any type' from remaining 'in any court, yard, vacant lot, alley, parking lot, open space' when determined to be a fire hazard. The County Fire Hazard Abatement provisions (Fire Code Section 4911) define a 'parcel' as land of any size 'whether or not any buildings or structures are present,' so undeveloped lots are squarely covered. Section 4911.3 requires that all parcels declared a fire hazard be 'cleared of combustible material to the satisfaction of the fire code official,' and Section 4911.2 makes it unlawful for any person to dump combustible material constituting a fire hazard on a parcel. Section 4911.6 directs the fire chief to serve a written order on the owner or possessor to abate the hazard within a stated time of 'not less than ten days'; failure to comply is an infraction. If the owner does not act, Section 4911 authorizes the County to abate the hazard and recover the cost: under Sections 4911.15-4911.17 the expense becomes 'a special assessment and a lien against the parcel' and is placed on the property tax bill. In wildland-urban interface and High Fire Hazard Areas, defensible-space and vegetation-management duties (Sections 4907 and 4906) also apply.