DEEP in the misty forests of Northern California, a makeshift community is on the verge of collapse.
Yee Haw, a free-spirited commune, is being forced to pack up.
Charles Garth was blasted by county officials for not taking care of safety hazards[/caption]
The community has been found with containers of human feces and leaking sewage[/caption]
Yee Haw, located in the coastal city of Trinidad, California, about 30 minutes from Eureka, has about 10 residents. Officials said it has turned into a code-breaking, biohazard nightmare.
The commune has been found with leaking sewage, or containers with human waste, junk-filled yards, firetrap cabins, and residents refusing to budge, reported The Daily Mail.
Officials cited a laundry list of dangers including missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, hazardous electrical setups, wood stoves installed without proper flues, and several unstable buildings.
County leaders blasted property owner Charles Garth as irresponsible, saying he’d had a quarter of a century to bring the settlement up to safety standards but failed to do so.
Garth started the community in the early 2000s in response to rising utility and housing costs.
Now, the controversial off-grid community is on the brink of closure after the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, which governs the Trinidad area, voted to move forward with abatement, a process that would involve clearing unsafe structures and cleaning up the land.
“It’s time to do the right thing and clean up the property for the area,” said First District Supervisor Rex Bohn at the board’s September 23 meeting.
“What’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again with the same result?” Bohn added.
THE LORE OF THE YEE HAW COMMUNITY
The conflict over the Yee Haw commune stretches back more than two decades.
In May 2001, Humboldt County officials issued their first notices against the settlement after they discovered widespread safety violations.
Most of the makeshift homes lacked basic fire and carbon monoxide detectors, and inspectors even found people living in vehicles with extension cords snaking through the windows to supply electricity.
Garth has earned some serious fines over the years.
That includes $63,000 in fines, penalties, and administrative costs, a figure that has now ballooned to roughly $100,000, according to The Times-Standard.
County officials tried once again to bring the commune into compliance in January.
Longstanding Complaints & Code Enforcement History
- Unsafe electrical wiring and extension cords used to power vehicles or structures.
- Wood stoves or heaters without proper flues/venting inside dwellings, raising fire and carbon monoxide risks.
- Sewage and waste disposal issues — toilets discharging to barrels or tarp pits, improper plumbing, and a complex mesh of water lines near waste zones.
- Junk vehicles, solid waste, and structures built without permits — many structures weren’t up to codes for building, plumbing, or electrical safety.
- Occupancy of vehicles as homes, sometimes with cords running through windows to power them.
- Lack of smoke/carbon monoxide detectors and unsafe structures with unstable framing or noncompliant stairways.
It granted Yee Haw a nine-month window to fix safety hazards and legalize its structures.
That deadline came and went with little progress.
“I need a new deal. Come on, you guys. I’m doing the right thing,” Garth told officials at a Board of Supervisors meeting in September. He was pushing for more time.
“Your director has already stated numerous times that there’s no way to build affordable housing. I can build affordable housing all day till the cows come home. I can build it. Just let me do it.”
PROPERTY OWNERSHIP
Inspectors found the community to have many makeshift items that break safety codes[/caption]
Inspectors found people living in vehicles with extension cords snaking through the windows to supply electricity[/caption]
The saga grew even more complicated when ownership to the property shifted.
On February 26, Garth transferred the land at 450 and 473 Quarry Road to a nonprofit called Evergreen Non-Profits, led by his son James A. Garth and established in 2022.
Evergreen CFO Allen K. Ng said the new owners were tackling the commune’s problems, including water testing and scrap removal. He said they were making a plan to get things in better shape.
