Colusa County, CA Property Maintenance: Weeds & Overgrown Grass (2026)

Chapter 7A applies to "every owner of any vacant lot or parcel or improved lot or parcel situated in the unincorporated areas of the county." Before the annual plow-down date, owners must remove all weeds in excess of three inches high. For improved parcels, clearance is required for "a strip of land fifty feet wide surrounding the entire exterior of any improvement" (or to the property line if the structure sits within 50 feet of it) (Sec. 7A-3(a)). "Weeds" are defined broadly to include grasses or vegetation that becomes a fire menace when dry, poison oak and poison ivy, and accumulations of refuse, cuttings, trash and combustible rubbish (Sec. 7A-2(a)). Removal may be done by discing, rototilling, mowing, plowing or cutting — "any other method, except burning" (Sec. 7A-3(c)). The plow-down date is set each year by majority vote of the county fire chiefs association based on soil and climate conditions (Sec. 7A-2(d)). The fire district must mail notice to property owners 21 days before the plow-down date and publish notice in a newspaper at least 15 days before (Sec. 7A-4(a)). This is a county-wide unincorporated rule; the cities of Colusa and Williams run separate weed programs.