This picture, courtesy of Rich, serves as a good reminder to cut your weeds.
Tall weeds pose an extreme fire hazard, according to the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District:
The district says it is every property owner’s responsibility to eliminate these fire hazards on their property that may endanger their neighbors and the community at large. Every property owner, regardless of type – including residential, commercial, and parcels of land — is ultimately responsible for managing their vegetation to meet Fire District requirements.
photo: Courtesy of Rich – Taken on Valmar Dr. in Concord
Wasn’t there a deadline for “weed abatement”? Or was that just for Pleasant Hill?
Yea, good luck with that. Until the property owner can be held liable everyone will go after the deep pockets ie; PG&E who will ultimately pass the cost on to John Q public!
The County needs to clip the weeds along South Broadway, from Newell towards Rudgear Rd. Shameful
Sooo…Not surprising. I recognize that parcel as PG&E owned. Electrical towers occupy the adjoining side of this hill. There’s another field directly opposite from this lot (also Valmar Dr.) that is in same condition. (This is the street that ends at Alberta Way, at CVCHS). Shame on City & County for not enforcing code.
Neither parcel are physically owned by PG&E.
Feel free to check APNs with the County.
120-122-008 on the west side of Valmar is privately owned, listed as vacant land unbuildable. Has a valuation of squat.
120-121-010 on the east side of Valmar is also privately owned, listed as vacant land unbuildable. Has a valuation of nearly squat.
The private owners may have thrown their hands up and declined to maintain the lots as they’re essentially worthless. PG&E lines may dominate the parcels and may assist with clearance, but they do not own the land the towers are on.
Contra Costa County Fire Department lists the following deadlines for weed abatement: Central County-June 16th East County-June 16th West County-June 30th. Here is a link to their online “Exterior Hazard Complaint” form. They do follow up on complaints with a visit to the offending property and issue citations if needed to force compliance. However, I predict getting PGandE to comply might be difficult. Just saying!
https://www.cccfpd.org/exterior-hazard-complaint
Yes… that was it, thank you. Couldn’t remember where I’d read about it.
“Every property owner … is ultimately responsible for managing their vegetation to meet Fire District requirements.”
“Fire district requirements,” what does that mean exactly? I can see cutting back the tall, dry grass shown in the photo being a requirement, but are they considering the defensible space a requirement or a suggestion? That will take some major landscaping and tree removal. CalFire refers you to the following website for wildfire preparedness.
https://www.readyforwildfire.org/
I wish the Navy would cut the weeds close to neighborhoods om the CNWS.
They really ought to.
Yes that are under powerlines off Alberta Way on a street across from the storage business next to Clayton High school.I love how they wont allow a house to built under it because of the dangers of the eminating electric activity known to cause cancer,but the houses on each side just a few feet away are in just as much health risk.I lived at the other end of those power lines on Park Highlands,and within 4 years,both my cats died of cancer.
Weed trimmer!!! Wouldn’t that be a great summer job for college students? Not ‘easy’ work, but beneficial to the community in so many ways.
Builds character, just like a paper route. It’s a great idea, however we are in different times now, sadly. Perhaps design a thumb operated weed wacker with 3D goggles and you might get a teenager interested.
To get a entitled kid to show up to work or on time is not happening this decade — I blame the parents who are to into their social life or pot
My parents apparently felt it would be a good idea before going to college to do a “real job” so they got me a job for a week driving truck in wheat harvest. It was a grueling dusty day long job. And I managed to blow the block in the truck engine upsetting the farmer who quickly forgot about it when I was able to repair the combine for him. I don’t know why the hotroders he hired didn’t how to do that.
Character building? No and I made about as much money that week as I did just playing weekends for a month in a band which is what I liked to do.
Anyway our winter rains caused lots of weed growth that was not so much previously seen. Lots of property owners were unprepared for that.
ABSOLUTELY NOT. This is why we have the weed abatement deadline before summertime. One spark from a teen hitting a rock and the whole hill goes up in flames. No one should be weeding with any powered tools once the weeds go dry. Such a risk.
EBMUD is an equal opportunity violator when it comes to vegetation fire hazards. Their land to the north and east of Larkey Park near Buena Vista, 1st Ave, and Geary Rd is one example. Pump Station area along BV littered with 1970s juniper bushes – one of the most hazardous landscaping plants for fire danger – and pine trees that are dying. Area across Buena Vista near their “yard” area and the walking trail is much of the same. Packed with junipers, pine trees that are dying, and some of the area is ankle deep in dead pine needles. That area has had no vegetation care for years, and is a firebox (and with the trees, a fall danger in that they are dying) waiting to happen.
Junipers are extremely drought tolerant plants and desirable nesting sites for a number of bird species including quail. Aside from that, they are a lovely aromatic addition to any yard, much like rosemary.
The biggest fire hazard we have is smokers and dopers. Can’t we just ban THEM?
So I went online to the PG&E website and received this response after asking them when are they going to cut the grass on their easement. Here’s the response. Let’s see how long it takes …
PG&E Customer Service Online
Dear Rich,
Thank you for contacting Pacific Gas & Electric Customer Service Contact Center. We will be happy to assist you.
We have forwarded this information to our Vegetation Management department for further investigation. Please reference case id #5324910456 for your records. A representative will follow up with you within 7 business days.
If you have further concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us, either by replying to this message directly or by contacting our Customer Service Line at 1-877-660-6789. We are happy to address your concerns. Customer service is available Monday-Friday 7am-9pm and Saturday 8am-6pm. Thank you for using our online services.
Pacific Gas & Electric Company
http://www.pge.com
NO ACTION TAKEN!!!!
Debris and Personal Property
, reported at S Broadway & Newell Ave Walnut Creek, CA, 94596, USA.
This request’s status is Acknowledged,
21 days ago
There is a big fire hazard driving along South Broadway towards Rudgear Rd. Dry, overgrown weeds many feet tall, are neglected. It looks to be City Property. Could you please contact the appropriate person before temperatures go back in the 100’s?
Public
Ted
#6056234
Walnut Creek
Comments (1)
Matthew W
6/19/2019
Verified Official
Thank you for the inquiry. Per Public Works, the area listed in the complaint is actually maintained by the County. An email was sent to County Public Works advising of the issue.
Mt. Diablo State Park finally disked fire breaks behind homes in Clayton that border the Park. It happened on June 25th, 9 days after the deadline. Many neighbors had been complaining since late April about the tall dry grass behind the homes The Park indicated that they are using outside contractors for this type of work and will look at hiring full time operators for this type of work in the future. I suspect that PGandE, East Bay Regional Parks, Counties and Cities and other Government agencies are also using outside contractors which may be delaying the process since there’s only so many to go around. Part of Gavin Newsome’s fire prevention plan should probably include some type of language that forces government and private agencies to hire full time weed abatement employees including heavy equipment operators so reliance on overworked outside contractors is minimized.
I have called several times to Code Enforcement Concord PD regarding the vacant lots on Valmar Drive. The 1st time she said they would be taken care of the following week. Several weeks later I called and she said I have to call the County and I did twice. They have still not been taken care of. This week I was hopeful when I saw a PG&E truck parked nearby. Now I think he was just taking a picture for Claycord.