L.A.'S BRUSH WAR; FOLIAGE CLEARANCE LAW SETS OFF FIRESTORM.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

The great Los Angeles brush-clearance war flares anew.

City Hall's attempt to collect a $13 inspection fee, along with its effort to reduce fire danger by requiring brush to be cleared and trees and grass to be trimmed from anywhere near hillside homes, sparked widespread outrage and was blamed by many for the defeat of the public safety bond issue April 13.

A City Council committee plans to ask Fire Department officials Monday why a bureaucratically written notice with intimidating language was sent out to 180,000 homeowners, including many residents of housing tracts on the San Fernando Valley floor who questioned the need to clear flat land.

Despite questions about the legality of the fee, Mayor Richard Riordan has proposed continuing it in his new budget, and only one council member, Hal Bernson, has publicly opposed it.

Where else in the $4.2 billion budget, officials ask, could the city come up the $3 million for the inspection program that used to be free to residents?

``I think the reaction (of) those of us living in the flat lands was that this was crazy,'' said Polly Ward, a Studio City community activist who lives near Ventura Boulevard and away from the hillside fire areas.

``It's not the $13, although I didn't pay it. It just doesn't make any sense. Do they want us to strip all our trees that provide greenery and shade? I don't think so.''

A verbal wildfire exploded after the notices arrived in the week before the Proposition 1 vote. Thousands of angry residents complained to City Hall, and the City Council suspended the fee temporarily.

Riordan included the flat-land inspections in his budget for the coming year as a means of paying for them. The proposed budget already was being printed when the council suspended the fee, Deputy Mayor Jennifer Roth said.

``The mayor was upset with the way this was handled by the Fire Department, but he does support the concept of homeowners' covering the cost of inspections,'' Roth said.

A council committee is scheduled discuss the fee Monday and to review how the Los Angeles Fire Department handled the notification.

El Nino response

The council last year voted to impose the fee during the peak of fear about fire danger posed by brush that grew thick during El Nino rains and threatened to fuel wildfires when it dried out. Many residents reportedly had failed to meet the new city requirement of clearing brush 200 feet from homes and other buildings. Fire officials said they needed eight additional inspectors, whose salaries and fringe benefits would be covered by the fee.

Hal Bernson, who represents the north Valley, is the only council member who has come out in favor of stopping the fee.

``This was stupid, and it was misrepresented to us,'' Bernson said. ``I told people during the election not to pay it. My understanding was that this program was to be financed by higher fees on those who failed to meet the Fire Department requirements.''

A new tax

Bernson questioned the legality of the fee, which he said might effectively be a new tax that should have been submitted to voters for approval to comply with Proposition 218.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is considering a legal challenge of the fee if the council reimposes it without voter approval.

Fire officials have said they might not refund checks already received for fees. The money is being held in the city Treasurer's Office until a decision is made on whether the department should keep all or part of the money.

Councilman Joel Wachs is leaning against the $13 fee.

``We received over 400 complaints from people,'' his deputy Arlene de Sanctis said. ``The councilman is very concerned about how this was applied - the lack of notice and if there is an appeal process. He wants a lot more information before he will vote for this to take effect.''

Councilman Mike Feuer wants to get more information from the Fire Department, said spokesman Daniel Hinderfield.

``He believes the department should have done a much better job, and he is sympathetic to the people who are calling in angry and confused,'' Hinderfield said. ``People are very, very angry about that and, the councilman feels, rightly so.''

Aides to Councilwoman Laura Chick said she holds similar views.

Keeping boundaries

Los Angeles Fire Department officials are reviewing the fee and coming up with a new recommendation. Fire officials said they would re-evaluate the boundaries for the mountain fire district and buffer zones, but indicated the boundaries are based on state and local law and on records of where large, dangerous fires occurred.

In the meantime, the department is still requiring those who received the notices to mow brush within 200 feet of their homes.

Asking homeowners

Battalion Chief Al Hernandez said the department wants all hazardous brush removed to prevent fire danger, and he is also asking homeowners to trim back trees such as cypress, firs and eucalyptus to reduce the risk they will spread fires.

The Los Angeles regulations require that grass, weeds and native brush be mowed down to a height of 3 inches within 200 feet of homes, garages and other buildings, including those on adjacent property.

Grass, weeds and native brush also must be cut down to the 3-inch height within 10 feet of streets, alleys, driveways and combustible fences.

All dead trees must be removed. Living trees must have limbs trimmed to a height of 8 feet from the ground, and they must be cleared of dead branches, twigs and foliage.

Ornamental shrubbery is allowed, but some varieties must have low branches and leaves trimmed from the ground to about one-third of the total height.

Tree branches must be trimmed to come no closer than five feet to the roof of any structure. Foliage must be at least 10 feet from any chimney or stovepipe outlet.

Roof surfaces must be clear of leaves, twigs, needles or other combustible material.

Stiff rules

The city's clearance distances are more stringent than in many other parts of the region.

In much of the unincorporated area of the county, flammable grass and brush must be cut down to a stubble height only within 30 feet of buildings, although county fire advise keeping a 100-foot firebreak around buildings.

Glendale requires 100-foot in high areas.

Burbank also requires 100-foot clearance for buildings in the hillside area, where there is high risk of fire. The Burbank Fire Department is studying the possibility of increasing the clearance requirement to 200 feet and is expected to make a recommendation soon to the Burbank City Council.

Burbank spends about $60,000 on its brush-clearance program. There is no assessment fee to cover inspections. Firefighters do the inspections near about 1,300 buildings.

AVOIDING THE NEXT BRUSH FIRE

Los Angeles requires property owners in designated high-hazard areas to do more brush removal than is required in other areas of the city, other cities and unincorporated county areas. This illustration shows the county's rules, and the different regulations that apply in targeted areas of Los Angeles are noted below.

(A)

County rules generally require flammable brush to be cut to a height of three inches within 30 feet of any structure, although in hazardous areas it may be increased to 50 feet. Los Angeles homeowners have been told to cut grass and weeds to a height of three inches or less, within 200 feet of a building.

(B)

County rules require property owners to create a fire break - by thinning vegetation and cutting down dry, flammable growth - for the next 70 feet around any structure, for a total of 100 feet. In Los Angeles, this is still within the 200-foot radius where stubble-height mowing is required around buildings.

(C)

The county allows trees or shrubbery within 15 feet of a structure as long as they do not form a means of transmitting fire to that structure. Los Angeles allows them within 18 feet on the same condition, and trees must have branches trimmed five feet away from any roof of any building.

(D)

The county requires trees to be free of dead wood and litter, and branches must be trimmed up from the ground to about one-third of a tree's height. In Los Angeles target areas, trees must have branches trimmed eight feet off the ground and all dead material removed.

(E)

The county as well as Los Angeles, Glendale and other cities require all brush, weeds and grass to be cut to three inches in height for a distance of 10 feet from roads, streets, alleys and driveways. This does not apply to ornamental shurbbery, trees or cultivated ground cover.

(F)

In the county and in cities, trees must be trimmed so branches and foliage are no closer than 10 feet from the outlet of a chimney or stovepipe.

(G)

Keep a minimum of three feet of clearance around all fire hydrants.

L.A. City Fire Dept: [phone]

L.A. County Fire Dept: [phone]

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Map, Drawing

PHOTO (Color) Polly Ward, a Studio City community activist who lives away from the hillsides, says the brush clearance law doesn't make sense for people living in the flatlands.

Gus Ruelas/Daily News

MAP: (Color) FIRE AREAS

SOURCE: Los Angeles Fire Department

Dionisio Munoz/Daily News

DRAWING: (Color) AVOIDING THE NEXT BRUSH FIRE (see text)

Jon Gerung/Daily News