SIMI VALLEY : City Officials Target Tumbleweed Hazard

In an effort to reduce traffic and fire hazards from tumbling tumbleweeds, Simi Valley officials have advised more than 200 property owners to eradicate tumbleweeds from their land by Oct. 31 or pay the city for their removal.

The city recently sent out letters covering 260 properties directing their owners to pull tumbleweeds from the vacant lots, some of which are located amid residential areas, said Jocelyn Reed, the city’s deputy director of environmental services.

Tumbleweeds grow during the summer months and can get as large as 10 feet wide and eight feet high, Reed said. With brittle roots, the plants break free from the ground in the fall and use the wind to roll along and cast their seeds.

This year’s spring rains and cool summer weather caused the weeds to grow more abundantly than usual, Reed said. The city began its tumbleweed abatement program eight years ago, she said. Before that, the tumbling weeds created traffic hazards by blowing into roads and present a fire hazard as they become tinder dry.

The city is targeting owners of properties with high numbers of the weeds, Reed said.

“Some of them are wall-to-wall tumbleweeds,” she said.

Property owners can crush the weeds with tractors or cut them up and have them hauled to a dump, Reed said. Some owners may be given permission to burn the plants, she said.

In past years, almost all of the affected property owners have met the city’s deadline, Reed said.

Those who do not comply may have to pay up to $1,000 to the city for weed removal, she said.