The Zone Zero regulations, translated into plain English

The framework

The statutes, and what Montecito Fire already requires

AB 3074 (2020) directed the state to create an ember-resistant zone. SB 504 (2024) and AB 1455 (2025) refined the framework. The Board of Forestry emergency filing was withdrawn September 8, 2026. As of September 19, 2026 statewide Zone 0 is Proposed — not in force. Existing defensible-space law still applies.

Then it goes local, and Montecito Fire is independent. Santa Barbara County Fire Code excepts Montecito FPD. Ordinance 2025-02 adopted November 17, 2025 includes Development Standard #2: local Zone 0 for new buildings and additions is Required now. Hazard-abatement inspections since June 1, 2026 are a district program, not statewide Zone 0 enforcement. On vegetation, the withdrawn statewide draft is not in force and is not a mandate to strip mature trees; on an estate lot with specimen plantings, verify with the district before removing anything.

In the zone

What Zone 0 restricts in the first five feet

• Combustible fencing and gates attached to or within 5 feet of the structure. This is the most common retrofit, Required now where a local Zone 0 rule applies and Recommended now elsewhere. See the fences guide.
• Hedges and woody plantings against the structure. Montecito's signature privacy hedges are, in Zone 0 terms, continuous fine fuel; where they stand inside the five-foot ring they're exactly what the rule targets. See the landscaping guide.
• Combustible mulch such as bark in the foundation beds. Gravel, decomposed granite, and stone are the replacements, and they read naturally in estate hardscape.
• Stored combustibles: firewood and lumber in the ring, where a local Zone 0 rule applies. Trash and recycling containers and outdoor cushions in that five feet are Recommended now unless your local rule names them.
• Every structure counts: the guest house, pool cabana, studio, and garage each carry their own ember-resistant ring, which on a large parcel is the difference between one project and five. See home hardening.

The science behind the rule comes from IBHS ember research: in wind-driven fires, embers travel far ahead of the front and ignite homes at the wall and through openings. Montecito's own history adds the reason this community can't treat the science as abstract: what fire starts here doesn't necessarily end when the fire does. The record is stated plainly here.

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