Hollister
– If Hollister property owners don’t keep up with their weeding,
they may find the fire department doing it for them.
Hollister – If Hollister property owners don’t keep up with their weeding, they may find the fire department doing it for them.
Interim Fire Chief Fred Cheshire said the city’s annual weed abatement rolls around every fire season, but the lack of rain makes it particularly important this year. The National Drought Mitigation Center announced last week that Hollister – along with most of California – is experiencing its first drought in 15 years. And according to Cheshire, that makes a bigger fire risk.
“With the lack of rainfall, that makes the potential greater,” he said.
Every year, the fire department draws up a list of every vacant lot in Hollister. This year, the list is 292 properties long, and includes individual owners with one or two lots, large development corporations and other local groups like the post office and Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital.
Those property owners need to make sure that the weeds are taken care of by May 25, Cheshire said – or the city’s going to do it for them.
Cheshire doesn’t have much experience with the program – it’s normally overseen by the city’s fire marshal – but he said most property owners tend to cooperate once they’ve gotten a notice from the city.
“They don’t want a fire on their property,” Cheshire said.
Jack Foley, spokesman for the nonprofit group South County Housing, said it has empty lots in Hollister because of affordable housing projects that were put on hold by the city’s sewer moratorium. Foley said that when a property sits empty for a long time, it’s easy to fall behind with landscaping, so he thinks the city’s program makes sense.
“As far as we’re concerned, it’s a necessity,” he said.
But there are a few people who don’t want to deal with the hassle and would rather let the city do their weeding for them, Cheshire said. Assessing their properties will be more of a challenge this year, because the city has lost its fire marshal, and regular firefighters will be doing the inspecting.
“It’s not going to make it harder, but it is going to make it more inconvenient,” Cheshire said.
The city estimates the total cost will be $5,000, to be covered entirely by the homeowners. Because of the unpredictable nature of the required tasks – which can vary depending on growth or rain – Cheshire said he “couldn’t even begin to speculate” how much it will cost to take care of an individual property.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
