Residents at Hog Ranch Told to Move or Be Moved

Residents of 17 trailers, camper shells and makeshift plywood houses on a Saugus hog ranch have been notified that, if they do not vacate the property by this weekend, Los Angeles County marshals will be ordered to remove them and place padlocks on their dwellings, the attorney for the ranch owner said Thursday.

The residents, including individuals and a few families, have ignored eviction notices handed out Aug. 17 giving them 60 days to leave the illegal settlement because of health, zoning and fire violations, attorney Daniel Hon said.

Most ranch dwellers were notified Tuesday that they must respond to a court order to vacate the property within five days or face forceable eviction, Hon said. If the residents file an answer with the court, the matter must go to trial within 20 days, the attorney said.

Many of the ranch dwellers have said they have nowhere else to go. One resident has vowed to stay and fight the eviction order, Hon said.

George Hadnot, the rancher who had leased the property from owner Charles J. Lyons Jr. since 1971, moved from the property earlier this month. Hadnot, 59, said he began allowing needy families to live there about five years ago.

“I didn’t know I was doing anything illegal,” he said. “I was just trying to do something to help somebody out.”

Lyons, a Paramount businessman whose father founded the 100-acre ranch on Lost Creek Road, “feels badly” for the residents, Hon said, but has no choice but to clear the property or face charges himself.

“It’s a tragic situation,” Hon said.

Bob Kinkead, head of zoning enforcement for the county Regional Planning Department, said the ranch settlement is, in effect, an illegal trailer park because recreational vehicles are used as housing units.

“This is a shanty town,” he said. “My real concern is for the health and safety of the people on the property.”

Violated County Codes

In some instances, sanitary conditions are inadequate, Kinkead said, posing health danger to residents. Several electrical lines that do not meet county codes were installed by residents and could cause “a tragic fire,” he said.

Kinkead said county officials are “not interested in penalties against anyone,” only in “compliance with the law.”

Residents of the close-knit settlement lived virtually unnoticed until last May, when a neighboring property owner complained to county officials about possible county code violations at the ranch.

Hadnot, who was notified to have the ranch dwellers off the property by Aug. 10, handed out eviction notices to his tenants Aug. 6. He said it was “the saddest day of my life.”

Few residents moved and many said they were waiting for “official orders” to leave. Hon began legal proceedings to evict the residents later that month.