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Council directs county weed‑abatement program to abate hazardous vegetation; owners to get notice and two‑week cure period
Summary
Milpitas adopted a resolution sending its weed‑abatement list to the Santa Clara County program and directed the county to inspect listed parcels starting April 1. Owners will receive notices and two weeks to abate before county contractors perform work and assess costs.
Milpitas — The City Council on March 4 adopted a resolution directing the Santa Clara County Consumer and Environmental Protection Agency’s weed‑abatement program to remove hazardous vegetation on properties listed in the city’s annual abatement report.
Deputy Fire Chief and Fire Marshal Arthur Belton presented the program and pointed to ongoing statewide fire concerns that make fuels reduction and defensible space a year‑round priority. Belton described the weed‑abatement process as starting with the council’s declaration that weeds constitute a public nuisance, followed by county inspections of listed parcels beginning April 1. Property owners will be notified and given two weeks to abate hazards; if they do not, county contractors will perform abatement and the city will assess the costs to the property owner.
Belton provided last year’s results to illustrate the process: the county inspected 70 parcels; 47 passed the inspection and were assessed only an inspection fee of $96; 23 failed the inspection; 14 of the failing parcels were handled prior to contractor abatement and nine properties were abated by the county and then charged.
During the public hearing, no parcel owners appeared to object. Vice Mayor Barbara Barbadillo moved adoption of the resolution directing county abatement services; Councilmember Lam seconded. The council voted unanimously to adopt the resolution.
The fire marshal noted three jurisdictional exceptions to the county’s work: Caltrans handles freeway off‑ramps; the Santa Clara Valley Water District handles waterways and related property; and county roads and airports handle the Montague Expressway median strip. The county’s contractor inspections and subsequent abatement activity will be documented in a report and assessment list returned to the city council under the Milpitas Municipal Code.
What’s next: county inspectors will begin compliance inspections on April 1, property owners who abate will incur inspection fees, and the county will proceed to abate properties that do not comply and will charge owners for those costs.
