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 treatment‑protocol addendum. It keeps mechanical work as the default for fuel‑mod zones through June 2028, and allows herbicide only under narrow circumstances: when an emergent invasive species (a group of non‑native plants tracked by the California Native Plant Society) is detected and a certified botanist determines mechanical removal would worsen the infestation. If such a species is found inside an agreed “exclusionary zone” — 100 feet from schools and childcare facilities and 50 feet from parks, streets and trails — staff must return to the City Council with a publicly noticed report before any herbicide is applied.

City staff and the Laguna Canyon Foundation said most invasive occurrences so far are small, and that early detection and hand removal have been effective. Chief Nico King, speaking for the Fire Department, and Fremont both acknowledged a risk the city will monitor if a very wet winter leads to larger regrowth. Fremont told the council the city has a list of emergent invasive plants and that the total acreage of those species in city open land is low today; “if we find an emergent invasive species within one of these fuel modification zones, we’d first attempt mechanical removal,” he said.

Multiple residents and community members urged the council to adopt a permanent ban on glyphosate and other synthetic herbicides in city open spaces. Tiffany, a Laguna resident and parent, told the council, “There’s no safe herbicide, and there’s no safe amount either. In my opinion, 0% is the only acceptable option.” Others, including representatives of Laguna Canyon Foundation, said they support the mechanical approach while preserving a narrowly scoped option for rapid response to certain invasive plants that threaten native ecosystems.

Council members praised staff for an extensive public process and said they were reassured by the city’s commitment to monitor outcomes and bring the matter back to council if early signs show the mechanical program no longer meets fire safety objectives. The council approved awarding the contract to Nature’s Image for the mechanical‑only option and adopted the protocol addendum as presented.

The council directed staff to evaluate program performance through 2028 and report earlier if trends indicate a loss of fire‑safety effectiveness, and to keep the public informed about any proposed herbicide use inside the exclusion zones.

Ending — The decision makes Laguna Beach among a growing number of coastal California cities that have narrowed public‑land herbicide use while preserving a process to remove high‑risk invasive plants in limited circumstances. Staff said the mechanical option increases annual program cost by roughly 10% compared with the herbicide‑permitted bid; the council accepted the added cost in order to reduce chemical use.