Got a Weed Abatement Notice? What to Do Before the Deadline

Every year, California cities and fire districts send notices to owners of lots with dry weeds, brush or debris. The notice says the vegetation is a fire hazard and gives a date by which it must be cleared. Rules vary by city and county, so the first job is to read your own notice. Everything below is general. The notice is the rule that applies to you.

Read these things on the notice

• The deadline. Exactly what date, and whether it is the date the work must be finished or the date you must respond.
• The standard. Some agencies want weeds cut to a certain height, often a few inches. Others want the lot disked or cleared of everything. The wording matters.
• The inspector's name and number. Notices normally name a contact. Use it.
• Hearing and objection dates. Some cities hold a public hearing for objections before ordering the work. If you think the notice is wrong, that is where you say so.

Why not to ignore it

If the owner does not clear the lot, the city can send its own contractor and bill the owner. Typically that bill is the contractor's cost plus an administrative fee, and in some places there is also a fixed fine for missing the deadline. For example, one Southern California city's published program lists a $250 non-compliance fine, with an administrative fee equal to the contractor's cost added on top. Unpaid charges can be added to the property tax bill as a lien. Check your own city's numbers, but the pattern is common: clearing it yourself is almost always cheaper than letting the city do it.

What to do this week

1. Read the notice and write down the deadline.
2. If you cannot meet it, call the inspector before the deadline, not after. Some agencies will grant a short extension on a case-by-case basis if the lot is not an immediate hazard.
3. If you recently bought or sold the property, tell the inspector. Notices sometimes go to the previous owner.
4. Get the work done and photograph it.
5. Contact the inspector to confirm the case is closed. Many agencies do not send a closing notice, so it is up to the owner to ask.

Where goats fit, and where they do not

Goats are a good way to bring down heavy weeds and brush, particularly on steep, rough or hard-to-access ground. For a lot of ten acres or more, they can be cost-competitive and they leave no tilled soil. We work with a minimum of about ten acres, so for a standard city lot they are the wrong tool. A mower, a weed trimmer or a disk will do the job faster and cheaper. We would rather tell you that than quote you a job that does not make sense. See grazing on less than 10 acres.

Also, check the notice for what counts as acceptable work. Some agencies require disking or mowing to a specific standard, and grazing may or may not satisfy it. Ask the inspector before you book anything.

Next year

If the same lot gets a notice every year, plan the work before the notice arrives. See a landowner's calendar for fire season.