Laguna Beach council approves mechanical-only fuel-mod program; keeps limited herbicide option for invasive plants under strict process

Laguna Beach — The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to award a fuel‑modification services contract that relies on manual and mechanical removal in the city’s defensible‑space zones and to adopt a new treatment‑protocol addendum that limits herbicide use to rare, targeted cases of emergent invasive plants.

Council action follows a year of pilot work and public outreach that tested non‑chemical approaches in hand‑crew maintained fuel modification zones. Assistant City Manager Jeremy Fremont, who led the staff presentation, said the program met the city’s fire‑safety objectives in 2024 and 2025 and that staff is recommending a mechanical program for routine fuel modification. “What we’re recommending tonight will be a mechanical treatment program,” Fremont told the council, and staff recommended awarding the contract to Nature’s Image for the mechanical option.

The nut of the council’s decision was the…