Should plants be allowed right next to your home? California may soon say no

California is nearing the finish line on regulating what items can be stored and what plants can be grown within 5 feet of your home, the area known as “zone zero.”

The state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection advisory committee heard public comment and discussed the rules Thursday at one of its final meetings of 2025 before it presents its proposals to the full board.

Debate has swirled for years over how the state should regulate zone zero, which often includes wooden fences, firewood piles and trees overhanging homes, all of which can combust and spread flames to structures during wildfires.

What’s the latest?

The most recent draft rule language is subject to change, but some of the proposed regulations are as follows:

• “Keeping roofs, gutters and the area within 5 [feet] of a home free of leaves and needles.”
• “Removing combustible materials such as firewood near buildings.”
• “Ensuring that fences and gates attached to buildings must be made of non-combustible materials for the first 5 feet.”
• “Ensuring that outbuildings within 5 feet be built entirely of non-combustible materials.”

A major discussion point at Thursday’s meeting was options for plants and trees right up against homes.

For plants, the committee is considering four options — ranging from no plantings allowed, with some exceptions for small potted plants, to well-maintained plantings as long as they aren’t dead or dying.

For trees, the debate was over just how close branches from well-maintained trees should be from the home: 5 feet or no distance requirement at all.

Steve Hawk, senior director for the Wildfire Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, which advises the insurance industry, advocated for the most restrictive options.

He said his organization “is opposed to zone zero regulation if it includes vegetation in the 5-foot-zone-around-the-home options,” he said. “ These options will not make [homes] more survivable or insurable.”

Pushback to the rules has centered on questions about cost and what some see as lack of nuance.

“Sacramento's one-size-fits-all approach to maps and regulations ignores local realities,” Ventura County Supervisor Jeff Gorrell wrote in a public comment. “Without clear funding, local flexibility or practical timelines, these rules risk creating another unfunded mandate that burdens homeowners and drives up insurance and housing costs.”

What about implementation?

The rules would apply to homes in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones and those in State Responsibility Areas. You can find a map here.

Any new construction built after the rules go into effect will have to comply. Everyone else will have three years to adjust. If you are granted a building permit before the rules are enacted, your structure will count as an existing building.

Assembly Bill 3074, passed in 2020, set the stage for the creation of an ember-resistant 5-foot zone around structures. Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order after the 2025 January fires, saying that the rulemaking process had to be completed by the end of this year.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara recently wrote that the zone zero regulations are crucial to addressing the state’s insurance crisis.

“Finalizing consistent statewide ‘zone zero’ regulations will bolster my efforts to ensure property insurance remains available throughout the state while qualifying more individuals for insurance discounts,” he said in a letter to the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. “With an increasing number of insurance companies returning to the market under my Sustainable Insurance Strategy, we need a ‘whole-of-government’ approach to continue our progress.”