Police, fire and other municipal workers moved onto a sprawling “junkyard” property in the Sun Valley area Wednesday to begin clearing a location that Councilman Monica Rodriguez said has become a major nuisance and fire danger for the neighborhood.
Armed with a warrant granted late Monday, a team of Los Angeles Fire Department personnel, building and safety staff and police officers entered the property in the 8600 block of La Tuna Canyon Road Wednesday morning to conduct a more detailed assessment of the littered grounds. Rodriguez called it an “all-hands-on-deck situation.”
“Once we know with greater detail what is actually being documented at this juncture, we will then know what the court will afford the city of Los Angeles to mitigate this going forward,” Rodriguez said.
The large property is littered with old cars, tires, wheels, large appliances and trash, along with other forms of random debris.
Multiple complaints have been filed over the years about the property, Rodriguez said, who represents the 7th Council District, encompassing the Northeast San Fernando Valley including the La Tuna Canyon area.
She said the home has been the source of frustration and problems since 2019, complicated by the fact there are multiple parcels associated with the location. Rodriguez office’s has been receiving continued reports about the “open storage, inoperable vehicles, trash and debris and grading without permits.”
In November 2019, the city attorney filed a lawsuit against the homeowners, followed by court hearings in September and November 2020.
“As a result of COVID, court cases were canceled and rescheduled in 2021,” Rodriguez said. “The owner had reported claims of progress … based on what the Department of Building and Safety could visibly see having not been on the property.”
The owner was sentenced to 180 days in jail as a result of the citations, but ultimately served only one, the councilwoman said.
Prior to Wednesday, inspectors were unable to physically enter the property due to prolonged legal proceedings.
“Fast forward, I’m going to cut to the chase, that yes, there were a lot of issues with this particular property,” Rodriguez said.
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times reported that the occupant, David Ferrera, suffers with mental health issues.
Mary Ferrera, a retired high-school math teacher and David’s mother, took over the property deed in 2014. She told The Times that her son couldn’t make payments but she wanted him to be able to live there.
In 2017, during the La Tuna Canyon Fire, the home survived but most of his possessions burned and were lost.
“He began scavenging metal to survive, which may have triggered or worsened his hoarding,” Mary told the Times. “We think that the trauma of all this, and possibly some unresolved past trauma, led to his acquisition of more and more `things’ to replace what was lost.”
