The Monterey Hills include steep terrain, narrow roads, hillside vegetation, and homes located in areas with elevated wildfire risk. These conditions make vegetation management, defensible space, emergency access, and evacuation route planning especially important.
The City’s priorities are to protect life safety, reduce wildfire risk near homes, improve emergency vehicle access, maintain safer evacuation routes, protect property, and consider environmental protection throughout the process.
Residents may see inspection activity, trimming crews, mechanical vegetation work, temporary goat grazing areas, containment fencing, contractor vehicles, signage, or City staff reviewing access conditions in the Monterey Hills area.
Tree maintenance and emergency access improvements
Under City supervision, West Coast Arborists will be trimming City-owned in the Monterey Hills to help maintain compliance with California Fire Code access requirements, including a minimum clear width of 20 feet and a minimum vertical clearance of 13 feet 6 inches. This work is intended to improve emergency vehicle access and help maintain safer routes for residents during an emergency. Fire engines, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles require adequate clearance to safely reach homes and neighborhoods, especially in hillside areas with narrow streets and limited access.
Affected residents will be notified in advance. No Parking signs will be posted in affected areas during working hours due to the danger of falling limbs. Residents are asked to clear their front yard of cars, furniture, and other valuable items while work is underway.
As part of this effort, the City will also evaluate road widths and locations where emergency vehicle access may be limited or challenged. In cooperation with the community, additional parking restrictions may be considered in certain areas where parked vehicles reduce access for fire engines, ambulances, or other emergency vehicles.
Annual weed abatement on privately owned vacant parcels
The City continues its annual weed abatement partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Agriculture, Weights, and Measures. Through this program, privately owned vacant parcels within the City are inspected and, when necessary, abated to reduce hazardous weeds, dry grasses, and other vegetation that can contribute to wildfire spread.
Annual weed abatement and vegetation management on public property
The City also conducts annual weed abatement and vegetation management on publicly owned or City-controlled areas. In 2026, work in the Monterey Hills will include targeted goat grazing as part of a hybrid vegetation management approach. Goats may be used in selected areas to reduce grasses, weeds, light brush, fine fuels, and other vegetation that can contribute to wildfire spread, especially in steep or difficult-to-access locations.
Traditional mechanical trimming, hand work, mowing, selective cutting, and follow-up maintenance may still be used where those methods are more appropriate. Goat grazing is one tool within a broader vegetation management strategy and is not a one-size-fits-all solution.
Targeted Grazing Parameters
The City will conduct limited and controlled goat grazing in areas of the Monterey Hills as appropriate. The targeted grazing area will be limited to City-owned or City-controlled property within 100 feet of privately owned land containing legal residential structures.
The purpose of this effort is reduce grasses, weeds, light brush, fine fuels, and other vegetation that can contribute to wildfire spread. The project is not intended to remove healthy, mature, scenic trees, and is not a broad open-space grazing program, grading project, development project, habitat conversion project, or ecological restoration project.
Before grazing begins, City staff and the contractor will conduct a site review to confirm treatment areas, access, boundaries, and field conditions. Areas may be excluded from grazing if they include sensitive vegetation, drainage concerns, unstable slopes, erosion risk, sedimentation concerns, access limitations, or other site conditions that make grazing inappropriate. If grazing is not appropriate in a specific area but fuel reduction is still needed, the City may use mechanical trimming, hand crews, mowing, selective cutting, or other follow-up maintenance methods.
The City will monitor the work through field observations, photographs, contractor updates, and post-treatment review, and may stop, redirect, reduce, exclude, or modify grazing activity if field conditions warrant. The contractor will be required to use approved treatment boundaries, containment fencing, and active communication with City staff.
Residents should not enter fenced grazing areas, approach the goats, feed the animals, or interfere with fencing or contractor operations.
The City’s goal is to reduce wildfire risk near homes while making reasonable, good-faith efforts to minimize soil disturbance, protect drainage areas, and avoid unnecessary impacts to native vegetation and sensitive resources.