![\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/threat-points.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSeveral families in San Diego’s South Bay are invaded by weeds, trees and brush growing out of a 30-foot berm the city built more than 20 years ago. They say they can’t fight back anymore and that the city is not stepping up to help them.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll sometimes catch Fred Threat getting some practice golf swings before the sun warms up in the morning. He hits toward his backyard fence, which is just about overwhelmed by brush and weeds creeping into his property.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis right here is coming over, and I don\u2019t want it here because of rats,\u201d the Navy veteran said, pointing to a tree weed with branches draping over his fence onto his property.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Fred Threats points to a tree weed that’s growing smack in the middle of his fence and his neighbor’s. <\/p>\n
He then walks to a second tree that\u2019s smack in the middle of his fence and his neighbor\u2019s, no longer on public land. He says its growing and spreading quickly.<\/p>\n
Threat explained the problem began more than 20 years ago when the city placed a 30-foot flood berm right behind his property.<\/p>\n
The land past the berm belongs to the county, and it has been well-maintained. However, the berm has been pretty much ignored by the city for years now, according to families living in this stretch of Atherton Ave.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was their promise when they put this thing back here that they would take care of it,\u201d Threats said.<\/p>\n
He added, however, that it\u2019s been him taking care of it and fighting back the brush \u2014 not the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would put a ladder here and a ladder on the other side and cut it down myself,\u201d he showed us, pointing to his chain-linked fence that serves as the only barrier between his property and the brush. \u201cLast time I did that was like four months ago, and see, it\u2019s already back.\u201d<\/p>\n
He showed NBC 7 Responds how some of the trees are just too thick for him to chop down with the tools he has.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis thing here just grew like crazy. I\u2018d need a chainsaw to cut it down,\u201d he said, pointing to what appears to be a 10-footer. \u201cIt gets dry right here, and all of this becomes a fire hazard.\u201d<\/p>\n
His neighbor, Alicia Navarrete, said the brush is taking a financial toll on her budget.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t![\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Navarrete-points.png\")
<\/p>\n
Alicia Navarrete shows a tree weed growing on city property with branches draping over her brick wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey denied me (home) insurance because of this,\u201d she said about a company she reached out to after her existing home insurance raised her premiums.<\/p>\n
She said she\u2019s also paid thousands of dollars over the years to get people to jump over her fence and clean it up.<\/p>\n
NBC 7 Responds found nine \u201cGet it Done\u201d requests dating back to 2019, and six in the last year. They all ask for the same thing: remove the brush behind our homes.<\/p>\n
The city of San Diego told us their records show they cleaned up the berm in 2017 and then again in 2022. However, they said there is currently no money to do it again and no way to know when there will be any.<\/p>\n
And here\u2019s another thing. Threat hopping over his fence to mow down the brush or Navarrete paying someone to do it, is not allowed by the city. They simply can\u2019t take matters into their own hands this way. So then, what now?<\/p>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-4-23.jpg\")
<\/p>\n