Panel Rejects Fee for Brush Inspection

The city should not impose a fee for brush inspection, and should cut properties subject to mandatory inspection from 170,000 to 100,000, a Los Angeles City Council panel recommended Monday.

The three members of the public safety committee agreed that reinstating the same fee that touched off a storm of protest earlier this year would hinder the campaign to prepare for brush fires.

“Trying to reinstate a fee that is divisive and confusing . . . is really counterproductive,” said Councilman Joel Wachs.

City Administrative Officer Bill Fujioka proposed last week that an inspection fee of $17 be charged to every owner of property inspected by the Fire Department for compliance with brush-clearance rules.

Councilman Nick Pacheco said the city did a poor job of marketing the fees, which residents could easily avoid by certifying that the brush on their property had been cleared from within 200 feet of buildings.

The $1.7-million cost of the program will have to be paid from the city general fund, according to Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, the panel chairwoman.

Miscikowski said too many properties, including some in well-developed flatlands far from brushy areas, were included in the inspection program this past April.

“Every office in the city heard lots of complaints, lots of concerns,” Miscikowski said. “You had people in very dense, built-out communities.”

She said some of the properties in this year’s mandatory inspection program were high-rise buildings on Ventura Boulevard.

The panel recommended an inspection program that would charge a fee of $218 for reinspection if a property owner fails to clear brush after initial notice, as well as a $314 administrative fee if the city has to hire a contractor to clear brush from a noncomplying property.