All Property Owners and/or Those in Charge of Properties in the City of Gates

As fire season is upon us, the City of Gates would like to remind property owners and/or those in charge of properties in the City of Gates to keep their property free of hazardous vegetation. The term “hazardous vegetation” means vegetation that is:

a.     Weeds more than 10 inches high.

b.     Grass is more than 10 inches high.

c.      Poison ivy / poison oak.

d.     Blackberry bushes, or any other berry, wild or planted and maintained, that extend into a public thoroughfare or across a property line.

e.      Scotch broom and other various vegetation.

f.       Vegetation that is:

(i)         A Health Hazard.

(ii)          A Fire Hazard.

(iii)         A Traffic Hazard.

Ordinance No. 229, ordains; No owner or person in charge of property shall allow noxious vegetation to be on the property or on the right-of-way of a public thoroughfare abutting the property. An owner or person in charge of property shall cut down and remove or destroy grass, shrubbery, brush, weeds or other noxious vegetation as often as needed to prevent them from becoming unsightly, from becoming a fire hazard, or in the case of weeds or other noxious vegetation, from maturing or going to seed.

                       The city is willing to remove the nuisance on a parcel of property at the request of the owner or person in charge of the property for a fee sufficient to cover the city’s abatement costs. Even in the absence of such requests the city may abate all such nuisances 20 or more days after the final publication of the notice and charge the cost of doing so on the parcel of property to the owner or person in charge of the property itself. If you have any questions please contact City Hall at 503-897-2669 or email: ctygtes@wbcable.net.