Weed Control: Harlingen resident says overgrown lot is a fire hazard

HARLINGEN — Jose Garcia is fed up.
He said he has tried calling the Health Department, the Fire Department, the Zoning Department and even the mayor and no one has done anything about the plot of land across from 789 Nantucket Drive that is overgrown with dry, brittle grass.
Garcia said the plot is an unsightly fire hazard that is a haven for pests.
“I contacted everybody,” he said. “They all say it’s for agriculture. That’s not agriculture. Nothing has been planted there for more than 10 years. If it’s for agriculture, how come they didn’t plant anything there? At nighttime you see a bunch of possums and rats go in and out of there.”
And with the National Weather Service reporting that 2011 is the driest year on record in Harlingen, and seasonal winds blowing strong, the plot could make for a potential tinderbox.
Brian Miller, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Brownsville, said when the conditions are right, strong winds and dry weather, along with low humidity, can lead to increased chance of wildfire growth, if a fire is sparked.
“We do have a Red Flag warning in effect for the entire area, from noon to 6 p.m. tomorrow,” he said Wednesday. “We had this low front come through, and it’s going to be very dry tomorrow and the wind is going to be sufficient, with the low humidity, that any fires that do catch, have a good probability of growing and spreading.”
So what is the city doing about it?
The City of Harlingen’s Code Enforcement Manager Elida Mendoza said Wednesday afternoon that she is aware of the property and has spoken with Garcia. But she said, as of now, her hands are tied.
“That property, we can’t go in there and mow it because it has an agricultural valuation. It’s for some sort of crop,” she said. “We don’t go in and cut those kinds of properties.
“We explained that to (Garcia). We’ve contacted the Cameron County Appraisal District. (The owners) are supposed to be using it for that purpose. So now the appraisal district is going to look into it.”
It wasn’t immediately clear who owns the property, but Garcia claims the owners are from Missouri.
Cameron Appraisal District’s Real Estate Manager Layne Budd said the location across the street from the Nantucket subdivision was looked at back in September of 2011.
“At that time, it did not meet agriculture valuation guidelines and was removed out of ag valuation,” he said.
A late afternoon call to Mendoza for response wasn’t immediately returned.
Budd said the appraisal district doesn’t normally work with Code Enforcement.
Harlingen Fire Marshal Danny Warner said Wednesday that a fire inspector has been to the property and spoken with Garcia.
“We did have someone give us a call about that. We sent an inspector out there who talked with (Garcia), who reported it,” Warner said. “We’ve talked to some people from the neighborhood and cross referenced it with Code Enforcement, who is now working the case.”
The Fire Department works in conjunction with Code Enforcement to make sure weedy lots don’t become fire hazards, he said.
Explaining the process, Warner said, “There are provisions in the fire code for that and we work in conjunction with the Code Enforcement Division. If there are any issues, they’ll call us and we can help make things safer.”
And while Warner said there aren’t any real problem areas in Harlingen, present drought conditions do lend themselves to brush fires.
“Of course, with the drought conditions, there has been an increase in brush fires. But inside the city, we’ve stayed on top of it and haven’t had too many issues,” he said. “And, of course, brush fires do happen, particularly, around holidays when people use fireworks.”
Warner said if people see a vacant lot that is overgrown, they should contact code enforcement.
To report a complaint, call code enforcement at 956-216-5200 or email codeenforcement@myharlingen.us.