Emergency reference section for the
benefit
of all
area
residents.
Please
take a look and familiarize yourself the escape routes:
Lomond Terrace Emergency Section
Spotlight
Local Resident Rich Becker
cuts down trees for a living. Recently I filmed
Rich doing his thing.
Check it out.
Mountain Lions
Did you know mountain lions are likely inhabitants of our area? They have been spotted recently as close as Highland's Park. The UCSC campus has sightings all the time. A single mountain lion can have a territorial range as large as 100 square miles. A territory sometimes is not one large area but rather several, connected by pathways. Do you know how to respond if you see a mountian lion? Do you know how to read their body movements? You should. Here is a good tutorial.
 French, Scotch or Spanish Broom?
This non-native plant is all over the place.
Read On...
Did You Know... Common etiquette dictates that the auto coming UP the hill has the right
of way. |
 2008 Wildfires Continue to Impact Valley Residents
By Michael Saunders
When the smoke cleared from last year's wildfires, and the sound of sirens, helicopters, and air tankers subsided we all breathed a sigh of relief and thought, "Whew, glad that's over!"
Not so fast. The amount of land that burned in Santa Cruz County last year is a tiny fraction of the total acreage that is susceptible to ignition and statistically overdue for a wild land fire.
Local and state fire fighters are aware of the danger. Insurance companies are aware of the danger. Now, they are going to start making residents in these high fire hazard areas aware of the danger, and the cost of protecting our homes.
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As those of us who carry a mortgage are keenly aware, a homeowner's policy with a fire replacement clause is required by most lenders.
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The first residents of Lomond Terrace to be directly affected by this change in policy were Lenny Cozzolino and Molly "Moran" Cozzolino of 870 Valley View Rd. Their home is near the top of the hill, two thirds of the way up Valley View Rd. It is now easily recognizable as one of the very few homes in our neighborhood in compliance with state mandated fire clearances. If you are one of the many people in our neighborhood that hike that part of the road you will have noticed their classic mountain cabin style home reappear out of the trees and brush after many years of being nearly invisible.
The Cozzolinos were motivated to hire a local tree service to clear their land of hazardous trees and brush by their homeowners insurance carrier. In this case, Allstate refused to insure their home unless they met State Fire Clearance Code. As those of us who carry a mortgage are keenly aware, a homeowner's policy with a fire replacement clause is required by most lenders.
Insurance companies have lost hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in California wild land fires in the past few years. They are no longer willing to absorb the cost of insuring homes they feel are not fire safe.
The Cozzolinos hired Riccobana's Tree Service to do the bulk of the clearing and tree removal.
All of the brush was either removed or cut to below knee height in a large area around the home. The majority of small trees in the yard were also removed, with only a few well-spaced specimen trees left for appearance's sake. (Continued-->)
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