URBAN FOREST? RESIDENTS GROWING UPSET ABOUT THICKET.

Byline: DANA BARTHOLOMEW Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS -- First grew the weeds, taller than a man, within a mile-long median of upscale Mulholland Drive.

Then came the weeks of complaints to City Hall about blight -- and potential traffic accidents.

Finally came the reported reply from a representative of City Councilman Dennis Zine.

``He said, `We don't have time to research it,''' said Alex Meade, 61, of Woodland Hills, quoting a Zine field deputy after two weeks of requests that the city trim its weeds.

``He said, `You can go to your neighborhood council, they can recommend a reassessment of your property taxes -- and we can cut the weeds more often.'''

Residents who live along Mulholland Drive are pricklier than thistles about their median mess.

Flanked by million-dollar homes between Spielberg Drive and Flamingo Street, the 30-foot-wide median has numerous intersections choked with weeds as tall as 7 feet.

To cross the four-lane thoroughfare, residents crane their necks to see oncoming cars through the forest of weeds.

``This is ridiculous,'' said motorist Lisa Stewart, 40, of Woodland Hills. ``In the spring, it's hazardous -- and it happens every year.''

``I hate those weeds,'' said another motorist, June Stanton, 82. ``I've been here 46 years and I'm tired of them. I had a near-accident when a child just came out of those weeds -- there was no way I could see.''

In the past decade, residents say, one motorcyclist was killed because he failed to see a car through towering weeds. After that, the weeds were cut every year -- until now.

City fire inspectors, who fanned out this week to investigate brush fire hazards, said weeds along roadways must by shorn to 3 inches.

``We're out there now; people should be compliant,'' said Inspector Patrick Crowley of the Los Angeles Fire Department Brush Unit. ``I'll give (this issue) over to the regional inspector.''

Meade said he also has contacted Zine's office for the past two weeks, to no avail. He said he was repeatedly told, ``We'll look into it,'' but never got a return call.

He said Zine's office acknowledged receiving five to 15 complaints about the Mulholland weeds.

Finally, he said, field representative Octaviano Rios told him to contact his neighborhood council about raising taxes for better service.

``It reminds me of Scotland, walking through the heather of the Highlands,'' said Meade, a retired engineer from Scotland. ``The bottom line is, they've done nothing. It's dangerous. We're all concerned. It's terrible.''

Zine was vacationing in Ireland on Friday and could not be reached for comment.

Rios' office referred calls to Zine's chief of staff, Sharon Sandow, who said the weeds on Mulholland create a serious liability.

``It is definitely a liability concern,'' she said, ``which is why we've asked the head of tree services to get out there ASAP and cut down the weeds.''

Sandow said the city normally does not trim weeds on Mulholland because the median is not irrigated. Instead, she said, the weeding is contracted out to Clean and Green volunteers, a California Conservation Corps agency.

Residents began complaining of the weeds April 10, she said, and Clean and Green was scheduled to trim the median April 28.

But because of spring break and a backlog of weeding, the work was delayed.

Sandow also defended Rios' comments to residents, but said there may have been a misunderstanding.

``We have actually asked residents to contact the Woodland Hills Neighborhood Council because they do really good beautification projects,'' she said. ``We thought this would make a good community project.''

Meanwhile, residents ponder putting on their garden gloves.

``I have been concerned for about a month,'' said Diane Haggerty, 67, of Woodland Hills. ``My God, we're going to have an accident because of all that brush.

``I'm going to have to go out there with a pair of shears and cut it down myself. It's not safe.''

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Brian Townsley, Alex Meade and Henry Kline, along with other neighbors, are irate that the city has not cut weeds obstructing their view of traffic on Mulholland Drive.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer