Paso Robles Fire Department began its first round of weed abatement property inspections Monday. Fire Captain Ross Porter said property owners have several weed-clearing options to choose from.
“Generally, it depends on the size of your lot and the amount of weed abatement you’re looking to do. People with larger lots here in town that have acreage like that tend to use goats more,” Porter said. “If you have a smaller lot… then we usually prefer to use weed whips or weed whackers and tractors, that sort of thing.”
Longtime Paso Robles resident Eric Martin says he uses power tools to cut down on the costs of hiring a professional.
“It’s a lot of money these days if you want someone to come out and just do that… I’m sure this would be a couple hundred at least,” Martin said.
When choosing whether to leave the weeds to the pros or the goats, Porter noted the advantages of both options.
He said goats are the safer option.
“It is definitely the fire-resistant way to go. It just depends on the size of your lot, though. If you have a small lot, it’s not really feasible to get goats in there,” Porter said.
Power tools, while more practical, pose more of a risk.
“We do recommend if you’re doing any sort of mowing where you have a metal blade involved that we do all of our weed abatement before 10 in the morning,” Porter said.
Click here for a full list of Paso Robles’ weed abatement protocols.
