Wildfire defensible space in Peninsula (San Mateo County): inspections, tree rules, programs

Who inspects, and against what

Woodside Fire Protection District (Woodside, Portola Valley, Emerald Hills and the Redwood City WUI, Skyline): required home assessments under Ordinance 24-01, about 2,000 parcels a year, report within 48 hours, 12 months to comply, citations possible; 650-851-1594. San Mateo County Fire / CAL FIRE CZU (unincorporated): 650-573-3846, SMCFDFireMarshal@fire.ca.gov. Hillsborough, Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, and Menlo Park Fire have no dedicated inspection programs published; county fire and the tree ordinance govern.

Standards are the state's (PRC §4291 / Gov Code §51182) plus local ordinance. Zone 0 is not yet an enforceable state rule (status), but several agencies here already inspect to it.

Programs you can use right now

• Woodside Fire chipper — Free, May–November, scheduled by zone; limbs to 8 inches; no eucalyptus bark or poison oak. Program page
• Woodside Fire 50% reimbursement incentive — Up to $7,500 per household per year, June 2024–July 2026. Likely expired; confirm with the district. Program page
• AB 38 sale inspections — Woodside Fire applies them district-wide; $498. Program page
• San Mateo RCD coastside chipper — La Honda, Montara, Moss Beach, El Granada, Pescadero, Loma Mar, Pedro Point; 2026 season ran May–July. Program page
• FIRE SAFE San Mateo County — Education, plant lists, grant pass-through. 650-712-7765 x126. Program page

Alerts: SMC Alert · evacuation zones at Genasys Protect. More on the resources page.

Tree ordinances vs. fire removal here

No Peninsula hill town exempts fire-hazard removal. Woodside treats a Woodside Fire thinning recommendation as an approval criterion and fines $5,000–$10,000+ per tree for unpermitted removal. Portola Valley requires a permit even for a dead native. Hillsborough protects any species at 18 inches cumulative and runs a hazard track through its town arborist. Belmont issues permits automatically for blue gum, Monterey pine, acacia, and palms. San Carlos exempts eucalyptus. Woodside Fire's Ordinance 24-01 sets Zone 0 rules — no combustible mulch, limbs 5 feet from structures and 10 from chimneys, noncombustible fencing within 6 feet — and flags the 'flammable five' (eucalyptus, pine, acacia, juniper, cypress) without a prohibited list.

City-by-city table with thresholds, exemptions, and penalties →

What we see most on site visits

• Closed oak-bay canopy over houses in Woodside and Portola Valley canyons — the classic pruning-versus-thinning report.
• Eucalyptus and Monterey pine windbreaks on the Hillsborough and Emerald Hills ridgelines — removal is permitted but the replacement math and the slope matter.
• Douglas fir and redwood stands along Skyline with deep litter — Zone 2 spacing and litter depth.
• Juniper and cypress hedging on the Belmont and San Carlos hill lots — usually no permit below the size thresholds (14 inches in Belmont, 11 in San Carlos).

Towns

Woodside · Portola Valley · Hillsborough · Emerald Hills · Belmont · San Carlos · Redwood City hills · Menlo Park · Los Trancos · Skyline

Town pages are being added; the programs and ordinance notes above apply across the region.

How a visit works here

Text or call with the address and the notice or letter. The site consultation is $375 ($450 with a written opinion), scheduled within 7 days; the written Defensible Space Plan is $850 and includes a tree-by-tree table with permit status under the local ordinance. Fire-mitigation permit reports are $750–1,250. We don't sell or refer tree work. Services and pricing →