The Zone Zero regulations, translated into plain English

The framework

Three laws, one draft, one independent district

AB 3074 (2020) created Zone 0 in statute, using the term "ember-resistant zone." SB 504 (2024) and AB 1455 (2025) refined how it's implemented and funded. The April 17, 2026 Board of Forestry draft is the most current regulatory language, and final regulations are expected in late 2026.

Then it goes local, and Montecito's local authority is unusually engaged. The Montecito Fire Protection District, an independent special district with its own board, applies the framework here, and it hasn't waited: hazard abatement inspections since June 1, 2026, certified Firewise USA community status, and standing survey and hardening programs. On vegetation, the state draft scaled back blanket tree restrictions after widespread public concern, and local rules may allow well-maintained trees; on an estate lot with mature specimen trees, 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 immediate-effect item and the most common retrofit. 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, furniture cushions, and garden equipment in the ring.
• 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.

Questions

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