Residents press La Habra Heights to enforce weed abatement and add slough-removal in road projects

Residents, roads‑committee members and council staff used the Oct. 4 La Habra Heights workshop to spotlight a recurring infrastructure problem: slough (soil slippage and debris) encroaching on narrow roads, narrowing travel lanes and constraining emergency access.

Matthew Edinger, a roads committee member, said the committee’s remit is to plan long‑term maintenance and financing of city roads and argued the city should give the committee more authority to press for property owner responsibility. He cited high contractor charges for clearing and grubbing and questioned why the city’s current bids result in costly post‑project clearing instead of earlier homeowner compliance.

Why it matters: Slough and accumulated debris reduce roadway width, complicate evacuation and could block emergency vehicles. Multiple commenters linked slough to wildfire risk by forcing vehicles to maneuver near burning vegetation.

Practical proposals discussed included adding a discrete bid item for blade‑cutting and haul‑off of slough during road projects; charging homeowners if they failed to remove slough before paving; allocating an add‑on price in road contracts for slough removal so the city can bill property owners; and using road‑project mobilization more efficiently by including slough removal while equipment is already staged. Council and staff asked the roads committee to consider those add‑on prices while preparing upcoming bids.

Speakers also pressed enforcement tools under the municipal code. An attendee read municipal code section 4.50.3 on abatement responsibilities and called for stronger notices and civil consequences for gross negligence in failure to abate. Staff explained the city’s abatement workflow: pre‑abatement notices, contractors perform clearing when needed, the city pays contractors, invoices property owners and—if unpaid—places liens following a protest hearing. Council members noted low turnover in the city’s housing stock means liens can sit on the books for years.

The council did not adopt new enforcement rules at the workshop. Instead, members asked staff and the roads committee to integrate slough removal options into upcoming road bids and to include clearer homeowner notice language when roads are scheduled for repaving. The council said it will raise these issues again in a future capstone meeting before final funding choices are made.

Ending: Staff and the roads committee were asked to explore contract line‑item options and homeowner cost allocations; the council indicated it would consider those technical changes before approving any tax or funding choices.