Weed abatement involves removing dead or overgrown vegetation to create a “defensible space” around structures. This helps improve a structure’s chance of surviving a wildfire and reduces the risk of fire spreading from nearby open space to homes and other buildings, as well as from structure fires into surrounding vegetation.

All property owners within the City are responsible for maintaining their property year-round to prevent weeds and other vegetation from becoming a fire hazard and/or a public nuisance. The Fire Department’s Weed Abatement program only applies to undeveloped commercial and residential lots.

Properties located within a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ) are subject to additional defensible space requirements. These properties must be maintained in accordance with applicable state and local regulations to reduce wildfire risk.

For more information, please visit SLOCITY.ORG/WILDFIRE, which includes guidance from the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Code on maintaining defensible space to help reduce the severity of potential exterior wildfire exposure within our community.

1. Clear vacant or undeveloped lots so that vegetation does not exceed 4 inches in height (by mowing, discing, scraping, or rototilling). This includes vegetation that is currently green but may dry and become combustible. All cuttings shall be removed.
2. Remove all dead leaves, weeds, brush, and similar combustible vegetation from the property.
3. Remove and properly dispose of dead bushes, dead trees, and any dead or overhanging tree limbs. Maintain a minimum clearance of 6ft from the ground.
4. Remove excess combustible materials, including but not limited to trash, wood debris, mattresses, and similar items.
5. Store stacked lumber, firewood, or other combustible materials at least 3 feet away from any fence or structure, and limit stack height to no more than 3 feet.
6. Properties located within Local Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones (VHFHSZ) may be subject to additional defensible space and vegetation management requirements. Reach out to Asher (AOSulliv@slocity.org) and Audrey (AOrlopp@slocity.org) our Community Risk Reduction Interns to learn more about VHFHSZ requirements.

The Fire Prevention Bureau handles complaints for undeveloped properties (commercial or residential parcels that do not have any structures built upon them) and all properties in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (find the zone here). For additional information, or to report a problem, please submit a complaint via ASK SLO or contact the Fire Prevention Bureau at (805) 781-7380.

Code Enforcement Neighborhood Services handles all other complaints for residential properties with existing structures, regarding trees, weeds, or other types of vegetation that are dead, decayed, infested, diseased, overgrown, or harbor rats or vermin that are visible from a public right-of-way.  For additional information, or to report a problem, please submit a complaint via ASK SLO.

The Parks and Landscape Maintenance program maintains all parks, landscaped areas, and open spaces within the City. For additional information, or to report a problem, please submit a complaint via ASK SLO

To file a complaint for areas that are State Right of Ways, contact Caltrans at this link: CalTrans