For five years, Avenues homeowner Ruth Zimmer has looked down at the steep hillside below her Avenues home and worried about what could happen if it catches fire.
Zimmer, an anesthesiologist, moved into her home in 2021. Since then, she says she has repeatedly contacted city departments trying to figure out who is responsible for clearing dead wood, fallen limbs and other vegetation on the slope near her property.
“I just feel like it’s a hazard that somebody’s got to pay attention to,” Zimmer said.
Her concern is not simply about an untidy hillside. Zimmer says the slope contains years of accumulated dead vegetation and timber, much of it on land she does not believe she has the legal authority to clear herself…