CITY DRAFTS NEW LETTER FOR BRUSH CHECKS.

Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

Stung by backlash from a rude, confusing letter to homeowners, the Los Angeles Fire Department said Wednesday it has written a friendlier, clearer one to explain the $13 brush-clearance inspection fee.

Aware of the incendiary potential of the brush clearance issue, however, the department won't send the letter until Mayor Richard Riordan approves it, said Battalion Chief Ralph Ramirez.

Property owners took issue with a previous letter because they said it was harshly worded and contained confusing brush clearance instructions. Homeowners in flat, well-landscaped Valley neighborhoods also questioned why they were included in the brush fire ``buffer zone.''

But the draft letter states how homeowners can avoid the fee by inspecting their own land, explains the reason for the fee, the city's history of brush fires and the city fire rules that seek to protect against such blazes.

``Hopefully we can make this one of cooperation rather than one of bombardment,'' said Fire Capt. Steve Ruda.

``The more defensible space we can make around people's homes, the better we'll be able to protect the community,'' Ruda said.

The new letter also explains condominium owners are now released from paying the fee. Instead, each condominium association will be inspected and charged as a single property.

Fire officials also are reviewing the mountain fire district and buffer zone and will remove properties that no longer are at high risk. They may add new properties around Pierce College's farm and the Harbor area because of heavy vegetation.

Some 65,000 property owners have already paid the fee, said Battalion Chief Al Hernandez, and those whose properties are later removed from the rolls will be refunded the $13.

Despite the conciliatory language and various exemptions, however, taxpayer advocates still called the fee an illegal tax and said they plan to take the city to court.

``All the explaining in the world doesn't make it a legal fee,'' said Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. ``They're just wasting more of the taxpayers' money sending this out.''

Jon Coupal, president of the association, said the group expects to sue within weeks and will demand that the city revoke the fee or put it to a ballot vote.

``If they get away with it, it becomes a precedent that can be used across the state,'' he said. ``So we want to strike down these end-runs around taxpayers so we don't see them in 50 different jurisdictions.''

In a related development, the department has reached agreement with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to clear most hazardous brush areas to within 200 feet of structures, rather than the more lenient state standard of 100 feet.

Of 72 conservancy properties slated for clearance, the Fire Department singled out 39 it deems top priority.

The conservancy will clear 32 properties to city standards of 200 feet of structures, said Walt Young, chief ranger of the Mountains Conservation and Recreation Authority, the operations arm of the conservancy.

Four properties that the organization considers to be at high risk of erosion will be cleared to 100 feet, and three more containing sensitive habitat will be cleared 30 to 40 feet, he said.

The 39 properties are in various parts of the Santa Monica Mountains and Chatsworth, he said.

While the Fire Department struggled to enforce clearance rules among private property owners last year, they have been more successful this year, fire officials said.

To date, Hernandez said, about 91 percent of property owners have complied with the city rules, compared to only about 86 percent this time last year.