Zone Zero fire rules coming to Malibu in 3½ years Play

Zone Zero will be the new law in Malibu in three and a half years. No plants within one foot of houses.

Property owners will be required to remove materials that can burn — things like firewood, mulch, wood chips, dead leaves and branches within five feet of houses and offices. They must also remove dead or dying plants, keep roofs and gutters clear of debris, and remove branches within 10 feet of chimneys.

And that's just phase one.

Phase two, in 2032, means nothing burnable within five feet of habitable structures. Things like wooden fences, storage areas, wood piles — nothing within five feet of a habitable structure.

Landowners statewide in very high fire risk zones will have about three and a half years to comply with the first phase. That's about 2 million houses.

The city of Malibu has the power to move that deadline up. Some cities have done that — San Diego and Berkeley.

Members of the Malibu Public Safety Commission have said they wanted to wait to see what would come out of Wednesday's rule-making session before making any recommendations about possible early implementation of Zone Zero in Malibu. But the final decision rests with the city council.

The Zone Zero rules have been watered down somewhat from the original proposal. The Forestry Board will not require the removal of trees, although tree limbs would need to be trimmed away from roofs and chimneys.

Again, the rules take effect starting in three and a half years — unless the Malibu city council decides to act faster.