On a hot August afternoon, Elva Yañez sat behind a laptop inside her El Sereno home, which looks out to the hillside she and community-led organization Save Elephant Hill have spent the last 21 years protecting from luxury developments, unauthorized off-roading, and illegal dumping.
Her face grew serious as she reviewed dozens of photos and videos documenting the latest battle: A land owner named Lin Hin Hoo chopped down a protected Mexican elderberry tree and damaged a Southern California black walnut tree and a dozen coffeeberry shrubs to build a truck garden, a tax-incentivized small-scale urban farm traditionally used to grow produce for local markets and restaurants.
“How is he going to maintain a commercial garden without running water or electricity?” asked Yañez, 71, a policy specialist and environmentalist. “How is he going to transport plants and supplies without a paved road to get to his site?”
Hoo, a resident of Torrance, bought the 7,500 square-foot parcel in 2023 for $30,000 (though it originally sold for $125,000). Unable to build a home on the undeveloped land, he obtained a permit in May to construct the truck garden.
Today, organizations like GrowGood create truck gardens to provide the community with fresh organic food, workforce development, mentorship, and entrepreneurship skills. With no running water, electricity, or paved roads on Elephant Hill, it is unlikely Hoo will use the land as permitted.