Los Angeles City residents received brush-clearance notices in April and brush fire inspector John Novela is being bombarded with questions, and not always in a courteous manner. ’I get mean calls sometimes,’ said Novela, who is responsible for Pacific Palisades, a high-risk brushfire area. ‘People aren’t always nice to me.’ Novela recently stopped by the Palisadian-Post to discuss brush clearance, compliance and to answer questions such as ‘Why is the Methodist Church parking lot (off Bowdoin and Via de la Paz) in the ‘Very High Hazard Severity Zone.” According to Novela, the entire community of Pacific Palisades is in this zone and has been since 1991, because of the town’s close proximity to the Santa Monica Mountains. Following the loss of life and property in the Oakland Hills fire in 1991 (25 deaths and the destruction of 3,354 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units), the state of California enacted stringent brush-clearance requirements, which cities are required to follow. Pacific Palisades neighborhoods were inspected free from 1991 until 1999, when the Los Angeles City Council approved a fee. Public outcry caused the fee to be shelved until three years ago, when the Council reinstated it. ’Many people tell me they don’t mind giving us the money because they love the fire department,’ Novela said. But the money goes to the City’s general fund, leaving the fire department to absorb the costs for 45 inspectors, who oversee 170,000 parcels of land. In his inspection process, Novela checks for overgrown brush. ‘If plants are dead and especially if they are on a flammable wall (wood), they need to be trimmed back,’ he said. ‘When a fire is burning and the winds kick in, embers go flying and can travel miles ahead of a fire.’ As Novela walked down Radcliffe (across from the high school), he found that an 18-ft. tree had limbs hanging within six feet of the ground, a violation. Two different chimneys had trees within 10 feet of the flue (the rule says there must be at least 10 feet of clearance). ’A spark from the chimney, going into the tree, could set the roof on fire,’ Novella said, noting that a five-foot vertical clearance is required from trees to rooftops. Embers are more likely to ignite smaller leaves and branches, which then fuel larger branches and cause the fire to spread to the roof. If a neighbor’s tree overhangs your property line, Novela said, ‘you can trim the tree on your property from ground to sky.’ The inspector said that when foliage is overgrown and starts to hide a house, or if a yard has dead palm fronds or any other dead shrubbery or plants, the homeowner will be cited. Near the Village, Novela found a house with a shake roof (extremely flammable) and a eucalyptus tree overhanging the roof. The owner will be asked to cut the branches back. Novela has cited areas of Temescal Canyon and the fenced-in property just south of Palisades High School that is owned by LAUSD. ‘The problem is that a homeowner stopped all clearance several years ago after she got the Coastal Commission to say plants should not be touched,’ said Novela, who pointed out that the dead growth was within 200 feet of houses on Erskine Drive. ‘Some owners ask, ‘I get cited if I don’t do brush clearance; why doesn’t the government?” Novela said. He explains that the city, the LAUSD and the state maintain they have no money for clearance. This month, fire inspectors have been making visual inspections through various Palisades neighborhoods. If a property is found in noncompliance, the homeowner will be charged $23 and asked to take care of it. If that is not done, then the case will be handed to Novela, who must charge a $320 noncompliance fee. If a resident still does not take care of clearance, the fee is raised to $938 and the city hires a contractor to take care of the problem, which the homeowner must then pay for in addition to the fine. If one refuses to pay for the work, a lien is placed on a person’s property. Novela would rather avoid that situation. ‘We work with homeowners,’ he said, ‘because we’re just trying to gain compliance.’ If you have questions, call (818) 778-4927 or e-mail john.novela@lacity.org.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
