services - Idyllwild Town Crier

FPS
Continued from page 1
space requirements from the
Public Resource Code — 30-
and 100-foot zones around
structures, the closer zone
being a more intensive fire
protection barrier. The purpose
is to protect the home
from fires in the forest and
to keep structure fires from
spreading into the forest.
To build an effective
defensible space around a
structure, one is likely to
have to remove some trees,
dead or dying, or even potential
ladder fuels. This
capability is beyond the FPS’
abilities, as the company
acknowledged to the public
last week. (See page 20.)
The Lees’ notice specifically
references section K,
which requires the distance
between crowns of brush or
chaparral to be equal to the
widest adjacent plant. And
all dead limbs and twigs
should be removed.
The Lees could appeal
the notice at a cost of $25.
They could drive to Idyllwild
and abate the property. Or
they could contact FPS, the
company with an exclusive
contract with IFPD to accomplish
comprehensive
“vegetation and rubbish
management,” including fire
spread, public nuisance and
blight abatement.
FPS is mentioned five
times in the half-page notice,
including the heading at the
top of the page; the Lees
contacted FPS and asked for
an estimate to abate their
property, which required
tree work, something FPS
is legally not allowed to do.
The estimate was $1,400 for
their half-acre lot property.
“We both thought that
was an exorbitant amount,”
Linda said. “So we went up
to Idyllwild on June 21 and
22. We spent the full day cutting
and limbing trees — all
scrub oak and manzanita.”
By the time they completed
abating their property,
the Lees had taken eight trips
to the transfer station in
a pick-up truck full to the
cabin with a tarp covering.
The Lees deemed their effort
“fabulous.” Apparently, the
president of the Cedar Glen
Property Owners agreed
since he singled it out as a
great job at the group’s July
meeting.
So imagine the couple’s
feelings when they received
the Final Notice to Abate
Hazard last week.
“It feels to me that Fire
Prevention is all about getting
money from us and
they’re still trying to get it,”
Linda opined. What particularly
irked them is that
FPS had sent photographs
to guide them through the
abatement effort, and they
had followed them
The Lees were perplexed.
What else did they need to
abate What was a danger
on the property As a last
resort, Linda called IFPD for
help and intervention.
“I just got off the phone
with IFPD,” she said Thursday
afternoon. “They want
$49 for a second inspection.
It’s not fair. If I don’t pay,
FPS will assess a $350 administrative
charge against
us.”
Full of frustration because
they felt they had fully
complied with the abatement
notice, the Lees, living
far to the south were feeling
helpless. Before finishing
the conversation with IFPD,
Linda, who had read the
July 3 article about FPS and
IFPD, said she would call the
Town Crier.
After the Town Crier
finished a 10-minute conversation
with Linda at about
2:30 p.m., this reporter left
to photograph (with her
permission) the Lee property.
The drive took about
five minutes and the photographing
was completed
about 3:15 p.m.
During this time, Linda
had called the paper a second
time at 3 p.m. and left
a voice mail saying IFPD had
withdrawn the abatement
notice at no cost to them,
she said.
“As soon as I got off the
phone with IFPD, I called
you,” Linda said. “She [the
Examples of the size of trees removed from the Lee property
in Cedar Glen in order to pass the fire abatement inspection.
Also one can see that the yard is essentially bare mineral with
no weeds, just trees, oaks and manzanitas.
Photo by J.P. Crumrine
IFPD agent] said Fire Prevention
was on the property
and everything looked
good.”
The only person on the
Lee property between 2:40
and 3:15 p.m. was this reporter.
Furthermore, the
Lees did no abatement of
their property between June
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Idyllwild Town Crier, July 17, 2008 - Page 21
22 and July 10. During that
period, the property both
failed a third inspection and
passed.
IFPD President Glen
McWilliams says FPS was
given a contract because they
would do all the paperwork
if it were necessary to go to
court and force an abatement,
whose costs would be
recovered from a tax lien.
“There’s no way IFPD has
the time and staff to take
these people to court,” he
said. But he emphasized that
IFPD does do the property
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inspections, not FPS. Yet,
FPS had photographs of the
alleged violations on the Lee
property.
Despite the dismissal of
the final notice, the Lees
were aghast at the process.
“It’s the biggest scam and
felt like extortion — pay
them or pay the district.
They were in it together it
seemed,” she opined. IFPD’s
withdrawal of the final notice
did not leave a good
feeling with the couple.
J.P. Crumrine can be
reached at jp@towncrier.com.
Public invited to news meetings
The public is invited to the Town Crier’s weekly news
meetings. The meetings usually are held at 8:30 a.m.
Wednesdays at Café Aroma. Occasionally, the meetings are
rescheduled because of conflicting community meetings.
E-mail itc@towncrier.com to find out if a meeting has
been rescheduled.