Santa Clara County officials are cracking down on properties with overgrown vegetation as part of an effort to reduce fire danger.
Inspectors with the county’s Weed Abatement Program conduct weekly inspections, looking for properties that pose a fire risk.
On Thursday, inspectors identified a property off Old Oakland Road where overgrown vegetation was growing near homes.
“We’re looking for anything that can be a fire hazard and create a fire risk,” Weed Abatement Manager Garik Iosilevsky said.
The county will send the property owner a notice ordering the vegetation to be cleared. If the work is not completed before a second inspection about two weeks later, the owner will be charged an inspection fee and receive another cleanup notice.
Iosilevsky added that if the property remains out of compliance, the county can hire a contractor to remove the fire hazard. The cost of the cleanup is then added as a special assessment to the owner’s property taxes.
County officials say about 2,000 properties are currently on the inspection list, and they remain on the list for three years.
East San Jose property owner Yuan Fang said he didn’t realize his nine-acre property was on the weed abatement list when he bought it two years ago.
Fang said he thought grazing horses and goats on the property would address the vegetation but was later charged inspection fees.
Fang said one bill included a $953 parcel fee and a $1,383 administrative fee. He said one of his neighbors was billed more than $8,000 after the county hired a contractor to perform the work.
Iosilevsky said it had to be done.
“California has really had a lot of devastating wildfires that have caused a lot of loss of property and loss of life,” Iosilevsky added. “And that’s our main goal, to prevent this from happening in Santa Clara County.”
Property owners can contest the fees during an annual hearing. Fang said he wants the county to lower the fees, calling them excessive.
Fang has a year to get off the inspection list.