Crime & Safety

Fountainwood Residents Complain of Brush Clearance Fees

Homeowners along Eagleton Street are upset about a law requiring them to pay for brush clearance on Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority-owned land near their properties.

Fountainwood resident Serge Morales was shocked when the Los Angeles County Fire Department showed up at his house in May with a notice instructing him to clear the overgrown brush on the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority-owned slope behind his home. 

"I thought, 'Is this legal?' " said 74-year-old Morales, holding the official letter signed by Chief Ranger Walt Young in his hands. "It brought up a lot of stress and confusion."

Fountainwood homeowners, already required to clear brush up to 100 feet, are now required by state law to remove "defensible space" or provide defense from an approaching wildfire up to 200 feet around their own property and if permission is granted, on adjacent property.

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A Senate Bill 1595, approved by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sept. 27, 2008, amending Section 51182 of the Government Code, is now being reinforced by the Conservancy and local fire department. 

"It was passed unbeknown to us. There were no hearings at all," said Morales. "It slid into the state Legislature without a notice, and these are the consequences."

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"A lot of us back up against a slope. We are a priority area, because of brush fire hazards," said Beverly Gafa, a neighbor of Morales' on Eagleton Street. "We get a notice once a year from the fire department, usually by June 1, to clear 50 to 100 feet of brush on our properties. Then, after that deadline, they ask us to clear up to 200 feet more, which is ridiculous." 

The slope that Fountainwood residences back up against was donated to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy by C.A. Rasmussen under the Natural Heritage Tax Credit Act of 2000, and is approximately 151 acres in total.

"For the first year or so, they maintained the land. The brush was cleared," said Morales, who has been a Fountainwood resident since 1998. "I guess it cost them money, so they went to the state. And then they sprang this on us."

Dash Stolarz, director of public affairs for the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, said he had not heard about Fountainwood residents' concerns.

"It is kind of a difficult pill to swallow. Of course they would like the agency to pay for it, but there becomes a problem when our money is very limited. Brush money clearance has always been very scarce," said Stolarz. "In general, it is the whole state of California that is paying for the benefit of one community. From a public policy point of view, it is the right way to approach it."

The conservation authority is "shirking its duties," Gafa said. "I think they are trying to find a way out. They should devote some of their budget to clearing land."

She and Morales attended the Aug. 11 City Council meeting to share their objections.

"I represent a group of concerned residents from the Fountainwood residential community," Morales told the council. "Basically, the situation at Fountainwood is that a lot of people are affected by this out of their own pockets."

City staffers said they would look into the issue.

"Yeah, the burden is on us right now," said Gafa, "but it should be on all of us—the city, Fountainwood HOA, the overall community."


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