Plumas County reports an urgency ordinance related to recovery from the Beckwourth Complex Fire and the Dixie Fire is scheduled to sunset June 30. The ordinance affects debris and hazard tree removal and emergency interim housing.
In August and September 2021, while the Dixie and Beckwourth Complex wildfires were still burning, the Plumas County Board of Supervisors adopted urgency ordinances for the purpose of wildfire recovery including hazardous debris removal, hazard tree removal and emergency interim housing with relaxed land use regulations to meet the urgent need for temporary shelter for persons displaced by the wildfires. The effective period, or date those urgency ordinances were set to originally expire, was Dec. 31, 2024.
Since then, the board of supervisors has adopted updated urgency ordinances extending the effective period of Chapter 9 (Beckwourth Complex and Dixie Fires Recovery) to Title 4 (Public Safety) of the Plumas County Code beyond Dec. 31, 2024, to allow for continued recovery operations, and to extend the time period for temporary housing under relaxed regulations.
Most recently, on Dec. 23, 2025, the board of supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 2025-1162, extending the effective period through June 30, 2026. This extension was adopted to allow an additional six months primarily for those in temporary housing situations, such as displaced people living in recreational vehicles year-round on their properties, to secure permanent housing solutions, said the county. The mandatory debris and hazard tree removal is complete, and the laydown, equipment and staging yards for wildfire recovery were no longer necessary after fall 2025, said the county.
On June 2, 2026, the supervisors discussed the issue and unanimously came to a consensus that they were not going to further extend the effective period. As a result, on June 30 the effective period of the relaxed land use regulations will sunset. Beginning July 1, the Plumas County Code Title 9 planning and zoning regulations will be enforceable, and any temporary modifications of the various land use regulations adopted for wildfire recovery will no longer apply.
For example, under the Plumas County Code, year-round occupancy of RVs or temporary dwellings, i.e., mobile homes or manufactured homes not installed on permanent foundations, is not permitted in the unincorporated areas of Plumas County, except when located in a state-licensed RV park or mobile home park.
The Plumas County Code also contains separate provisions that allow temporary housing under certain circumstances outside of the wildfire recovery framework. For example, Section 9-2.405 permits camping in RVs on private lands, with concurrence of the property owner, for no more than 120 days in a calendar year in areas outside of prime opportunity areas, such as suburban (S-1 and S-3) and rural (R-10 and R-20) zoning districts.
Prime opportunity areas where camping in RVs is prohibited include single-family residential zones (2-R, 3-R, 7-R), the multiple-family residential zone (M-R), the core commercial zone (C-1), the periphery commercial zone (C-2), the convenience commercial zone (C-3),
the recreation-open space zone (Rec-OS), the open space zone (OS) and the lake zone (L).
Additionally, if a property owner is in the process of constructing a home in any zone where dwelling units are permitted and has an issued building permit, Section 9-2.417(a) allows a manufactured home (not on a permanent foundation), RV or appurtenant building to be utilized for temporary housing for a period not to exceed 18 months while a permitted dwelling unit is being constructed, or for a period of 6 months while a permitted mobile home is being installed.
The county invites the community to refer to the Plumas County Code of Ordinances, Title 9, for planning and zoning uses and definitions. More information, including identification of parcel zoning, is available via the Plumas County Map Portal. When on the landing page, users can select Zoning, then type an address in the address search bar in the upper right, or an assessor parcel number in the parcel search bar in the lower right to understand a parcel’s zoning.
Community members can also call the Plumas County Planning Department at 530-283-7011 and select Option 2 for assistance. More information about available resources and assistance is available on the county website.
