Welcome Neighbor!

A Message from the Brentwood  Homeowners Association (HOA):

New fire regulations may require the removal of all plants within 5 feet of your home. These changes are moving fast and will affect neighborhoods across Brentwood and western Los Angeles, California.  The requirements could expand to other cities, states and beyond so it is in everyone’s interest to protest this misguided regulation. Click below to learn what’s happening and how to take action.

We are reaching out to inform you of significant proposed changes to “Zone 0” regulations that could drastically impact our neighborhoods, requiring us to remove many trees and hedges around our homes. These regulations are being fast-tracked and will affect communities across the Westside — including Bel-Air, Brentwood, Brentwood Park, the Palisades Riviera, and Pacific Palisades.

The California State Board of Forestry and CalFire are proposing sweeping changes to landscaping rules for properties located in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones: Zone 0 (within 5 feet of structures) = Removal of all plant material.

Fall 2025 Update: The Board of Forestry’s zone zero committee’s November 3 meeting was disappointing. Unfortunately, it appears that the zone zero committee’s inclusion of options that allow healthy vegetation and trees in zone zero will likely not be reflected in the final regulations. The zone zero committee gave the floor to two speakers for most of this meeting, who provided the same type of uncompromising presentations we’ve seen repeatedly from this committee over the past six months. This meeting undermined much of the goodwill the zone zero Committee had generated over the past two months. 

There have been several small positive gains stemming from these meetings. Protected tree species will be spared. Your neighbor’s ADU can no longer trigger Zone Zero clearance requirements on your property. And the draft regulation’s plain language appears to suggest at least some leeway for local variations in enforcement, although this may not be meaningfully different from strict enforcement. 

However, regulations may well mandate, three years from now, steps that will inflict substantial ecological, environmental, and economic harm on our community. 

Homeowners who live in their homes will have a three-year transition period to implement the zone zero regulations. Homeowners who rent out their homes may have less time – this is among the details not yet finalized.

It is important that we let our local and state representatives know how flawed this legislation is. More to come.

Act: The button below will direct you to the Brentwood Homeowners Association Zone 0 landing page with more detailed explanation. You can reach out directly to your state representatives using the emails below or by accessing the one-click link on the Brentwood HOA page. 

Download/Copy these letters for your outreach: 

Sample Letter to California Legislators and  Sample Letter to California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. 

Contact CA Legislators: 

anthony.avila@asm.ca.gov 

assemblymember.gabriel@assembly.ca.gov  assemblymember.zbur@assembly.ca.gov //senator.allen@senate.ca.gov  senator.stern@senate.ca.gov

Digitally Sign the Letter for the Board of Forestry: https://www.wildfirela.org/letter/