Fires and Creating A Defensible Space

Tierrasanta has been spared this time from the fires. However, with all the news about what you can do to prevent the fire in your neighborhood may be we all should listen. The theme repeated over and over again is about landscaping and trees planted too close to your home.

May be our HOA needs to consider removing all eucalyptus trees in our neighborhood or at least the trees planted too close to the homes. Eucalyptus oil is highly flammable (trees have been known to explode) and bush fires can travel easily through the oil-rich air of the tree crowns. The dead bark and fallen branches are also flammable. Eucalypts are well adapted for periodic fires, in fact most species are dependent on them for spread and regeneration. They do this via lignotubers, epicormic buds under the bark and from fire-germinated seeds sprouting in the ashes.

Property owners and our HOA should Create A Defensible Space between unmaintained canyon vegetation and any structures. Creating this Fire Break is critical to safeguarding structures from wildfires.

Clearing, Thinning and Pruning: Critical Steps for Fire Safety
Trees and large shrubs often create a canopy that allows fire to quickly spread and threaten nearby structures. A key purpose of clearing, thinning, and pruning is to reduce the potential for fire spread.

Clearing or thinning is the cutting down of plants to reduce flammable material and increase the distance between groups of plants so flames are less able to travel. Plants may be cut to a height of six inches. Roots systems should not be disturbed.

Pruning is the removal of branches and dead or dying wood to reduce the amount of flammable material. Trees and large shrubs must be pruned so 40% of the flammable material is removed. The lowest branches should be three times higher than the height of the vegetation below, or six feet, whichever is higher. Dead and excessive twiggy growth must also be trimmed and removed.

We do have a great deal of bushes that are overgrown and have not been trimmed or pruned in years. We need to make sure we evaluate the greenbelts in our neighborhood and what we can do with the canyons that come up to the end of our streets. Let's work together to safe guard our neighborhood.

Thank you!

A message from your Happy Neighbor about Cars and Parking

Hi, I am the Happy Neighbor, and I am here to help you post concerns about our neighborhood. Please let the Happy Neighbor know of any comments or concerns you may have about the neighborhood and the Happy Neighbor will post a message for you!

Today's topic: Cars and Parking

Our neighborhood has been growing over the last several years with larger families, and friends living amongst us! The more the merrier!!

However, with the growth in the neighborhood there are more cars on the streets parked every which way.

To keep the aesthetics our neighborhood, it is a good practice:

1) To park two cars in your garage;

2) To not park sideways in your small driveway. The driveways are small and were not designed to have cars parked half way into the street, plus it looks terrible;

3) Not to park in front of the mailboxes. Some postal service workers will not deliver mail if the mailboxes are blocked by automobiles;

4) On the narrower streets with houses on one side, please park on the side of the street without the houses; and

5) To not park on the wrong side of the street. You can receive a ticket for this so please take the time to park in the right direction.

Keep our neighborhood looking pretty!!