Fire Department Sets June 30 as Brush-Clearance Deadline

The Los Angeles Fire Department on Wednesday set June 30 as the new deadline for residents of fire hazard zones to either pay a $13 inspection fee or certify in writing that their property complies with brush clearance rules.

The announcement drew criticism from a taxpayer group that said it plans to sue the city on grounds that the fee violates state law requiring a vote on new taxes.

Fire Department Batallion Chief Al Hernandez said a notice of the new deadline will be mailed next week to 180,000 owners of properties in the Mountain Fire District and buffer zones.

The new notice supplants one mailed April 1 but withdrawn after it caused a storm of protest from residents who said it was heavy-handed and confusing.

“This notice will give a lot clearer direction about how property owners can either pay the fee or do a self-inspection of their property,” Hernandez said.

The new notice also attempts to better justify the fee by explaining it will help the city guard against a catastrophic wild fire.

The new, eight-page notice was drafted with close scrutiny by the City Council, which rejected the original mailer as too threatening in tone. The council ordered the Fire Department to drop a requirement for property owners to notarize the inspections, and to add wording making it clear that self-inspection is easy.

Still, Kris Vosburgh of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. criticized the Fire Department for paying for a new mailing when officials know his group plans a suit to block the fee on grounds it violates state law.

“All the new explanation in the world doesn’t make it a legal fee,” Vosburgh said. “We are about to drop the hammer on this legally, and we believe we will win in court. To send out another mailer now is just a waste of more money.”

The city attorney’s office assured the City Council that the fee is legal and is not considered a tax under state law.