BRUSH STATUTE BEING IGNORED.Byline: Alex Roth Daily News Staff Writer With the start of a potentially dangerous fire season days away, two state agencies that maintain thousands of acres of land in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. are refusing to comply with the city's brush clearance ordinance, creating what fire officials called a public hazard. The California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is a government agency in the U.S. state of California. Its mission is to improve mobility across the state. It manages the state highway system and is actively involved with public transportation systems in California. , which controls all land along highways, and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is an agency of the state of California in the United States founded in 1979 and dedicated to the acquisition of land in the Santa Susana and Santa Monica Mountains and the Simi Hills, north and west of Los Angeles, for preservation as open , which with the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority owns about 4,000 acres throughout the city, have failed to clear brush from within 200 feet of all structures and within 10 feet of all highways. Officials for the agencies say they don't have the equipment or the money - nor do they see the need - to comply with the ordinance, which applies to every property owner in the city of Los Angeles
Fire officials say this noncompliance noncompliance failure of the owner to follow instructions, particularly in administering medication as prescribed; a cause of a less than expected response to treatment. noncompliance could spell disaster and have papered Caltrans and the conservancy with dozens of citations, even though the city lacks the authority to prosecute the state agencies. ``We depend on other government agencies to take care of business in the appropriate manner,'' Los Angeles fire Capt. Paul Quagliata said Wednesday. ``If they don't have the money or people to do that, they need to address that issue.'' Fire Chief William Bamattre said the risk posed by the agencies' failure to comply depends on many factors, including the weather. But for months, fire officials have warned that the winter's El Nino rains have produced the greatest brush overgrowth overgrowth Rapid growth in the sales of a mutual fund's shares to the extent that the fund has difficulty finding promising new investments or it must take such large positions in individual investments that its trading flexibility is reduced. in a decade - creating the fuel for a disastrous fire season. ``Certainly because of the amount of land (Caltrans and the conservancy) own, it's a problem,'' Bamattre said. The fire season begins in late September or early October, depending on weather and moisture conditions. Fire officials estimate that 8,800 of 180,000 properties inspected by firefighters in the city have failed to clear brush from within 200 feet of structures. Many of them are owned by Caltrans and the conservancy. Representatives of the conservancy acknowledged that they are not complying with the city's 200-foot brush clearance rule, which took effect in May 1997. Old vs. new rules Neither city nor conservancy officials could say how many parcels of mountain parkland are out of compliance. But conservancy representatives said the agency is clearing brush from within 100 feet of structures - the city's old rule - and insisted that is a safe distance. ``We make every effort to identify the areas that truly need to be cleared and make a concerted effort to clear them,'' said conservancy staff lawyer Laurie Collins. Conservancy officials say they don't have the money to clear more than they already have. Earlier this year, when agency officials requested an additional $165,000 for brush clearance, the state Legislature A state legislature may refer to a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. The following legislatures exist in the following political subdivisions: Conservancy officials point out that by clearing brush from within 100 feet of structures, they are exceeding state regulations, which require only a 30-foot clearance on all state property. ``We've done a tremendous amount of work over the last four months doing that which we've historically done,'' said Walt Young, a conservancy deputy division chief. Lack of staff Caltrans officials say they have been unable to clear much highway right of way because of lack of staff, equipment and funds. In addition, new state laws require them to cut back on their use of herbicides, said Mike Miles, a Caltrans maintenance chief based in Los Angeles. Hiring contractors has been difficult because only a few private firms have the special lawn mowers required for the task, he said. In some cases, Miles said, the agency would not want to clear brush because that would expose the land to erosion. ``It's a double-edged sword,'' he said. ``Do we want it to wash away or do we want it to burn?'' Firefighters cited Caltrans property bordering the Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. near the Foothill Freeway as a problem area, along with the right of way along the San Diego Freeway The San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405, and the part of Interstate 5 south of the El Toro Y[1]) is one of the principal north-south highways in Southern California, and the major beltway of I-5 running through Southern California. through the Sepulveda Pass Sepulveda Pass (el. 1130 ft. / 334 m.) is a mountain pass through the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles, California. It is often called Poop-Out Pass, a phrase once used by now-deceased traffic reporter Bill Keene. , between Ventura and Sunset boulevards Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades. . ``It hasn't been trimmed up there,'' said Inspector Sanford Faz of the Fire Department's brush clearance unit. ``There's a lot of dead debris and heavy growth alongside the freeway. You have automobiles on the freeway with people tossing cigarettes out. Any minor traffic accidents have the potential to start a car fire, which could get into the overgrowth area.'' The city has sent Caltrans 84 citations for failure to clear brush along highways. Even though the city has no jurisdiction over state agencies, fire officials said they hope the notices will call attention to the problem. ``It places homeowners in danger. It places firefighters in danger,'' Faz said. But Miles said fire officials have issued Caltrans citations for property the agency doesn't even own. ``They just go out there and write citations and send them to us, and then we go out and investigate,'' he said. ``And a lot of times it's not our property.'' Council not satisfied Those explanations aren't sitting well with the City Council. Councilwoman Laura Chick, who chairs the council's Public Safety Committee, said she would urge the council and Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. to sign a letter urging the two agencies to take additional measures. Chick said even if the city cannot enforce its rules against state agencies, officials should try to ``use all other tactics, including good old American shaming.'' The city's new brush clearance ordinance follows the county's regulations, requiring property owners to clear brush up to 200 feet. Jon Baker Jon Baker (born June 14, 1923 in San Francisco, California) was an American football linebacker in the NFL for the New York Giants. He attended the University of California. , a deputy forester with the Los Angeles County Fire Department Not to be confused with Los Angeles Fire Department. The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD), serves unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, as well as 58 cities and towns that choose to have the county provide fire and EMS services, including the City of La , said he wasn't sure whether the county had difficulty getting either Caltrans or the conservancy to comply. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Brush grows in the Sepulveda Pass next to where a car fMire ignited ig·nite v. ig·nit·ed, ig·nit·ing, ig·nites v.tr. 1. a. To cause to burn. b. To set fire to. 2. To subject to great heat, especially to make luminous by heat. the hillside earlier this summer. Michael Owen
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