El Dorado County Vegetation Management Ordinance and Roadways
EDC Vegetation Management
March 2020

Question - Who is responsible for vegetation management along roadways?

Answer from EDC Vegetation Management:

Private Roadways – Along private roadways, the property owner adjacent would be responsible, with possible exceptions within HOA's or possibly CSD's/Road Associations for example. 

Public Roadways - Along public roads, the adjacent property owner would be responsible if the edge of the road is within 100' of an inhabitable structure, as long as the property line abuts the road. That would be considered part of the normal defensible space clearing requirements. DOT is technically responsible for vegetation management in the public road "tunnel" otherwise, including limbing, brushing and ditching. 

With respect to the EDC Vegetation Management Ordinance, Section F 12 : this is a part of the ordinance we expect to be phased in over time and as the working plan of the ordinance evolves. This has the potential for certain roads with more critical ingress/egress issues and or hazardous vegetation to get a special designation. We don't yet know what that will look like in terms of additional duties for property owners or when this could possibly come into play, but potentially there could be additional clearing mandated. 

Note from AFFSC – Recent contact with EDCFSC indicates that due to their severely constrained budgets, they do not have funds to do roadway vegetation management along South County roadways, except potential work along Omo Ranch Road in 2021 or later.