The mess at Country Club Plaza
We have all seen Country Club Plaza slide downhill from its glory days when it opened in the 1960s. The mall struggled for years in the early part of this century. Macy's (was Weinstock's from 1961-1996) and Gottschalks (was J.C. Penny's from 1971-1994) department stores anchored the ends of the mall and owned their buildings. In 2003 the mall was remodeled as an enclosed mall, a departure from the trend at the time of open-air malls. The space between the anchors were owned by Southern California investors who sold out to Bay Area investors in 2015. Gottschalks finally folded in 2009 and was replaced by a large Winco supermarket that had been promoted by our former Supervisor, Susan Peters. Former stores like Ross and Bed Bath & Beyond were replaced by Planet Fitness and That's Cheap!. Rebounderz took over the old Sports Chalet site. Flaming Grill replaced the Strings pasta restaurant. A new movie theater was built where the shoe store was. More recently, the former LaBou bakery and cafe space is being remodeled for a laundromat.
Not long ago, residents were happy when the new stores appeared to give life to the shopping center and they welcomed it with open arms. Little did they realize what was coming down the road. As a "dead mall" (check out this video from 6 years ago), the place has pretty much been on life support since Macy's closed in 2016. OK, we know malls are struggling all over the country, but Country Club Plaza's troubles have not exactly attracted the interest of Sacramento County. Once the mall was approved back in the day, the County sort of walked away from caring about whether it was a viable commercial site. Until, it became a law enforcement problem, that is. Yet another Bay Area owner took over the mall in 2022 and hired Jeff Helm, a property manager out of Yuba City. Within a year of that purchase, the mall became a continual magnet for drug activity, homeless camps, garbage and criminal behavior.
On many occasions neighbors reported those problems to Sacramento County Code Enforcement, 311 and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Homeless Outreach Team via phone calls and emails. In addition to the neighbors' complaints, Rebounderz filed a civil lawsuit against the owner citing breach of contract and alleging that the new owner charged excessive fees to the tenants on top of their leases, did not provide proper security and sewer services, and let the roof leak. The suit said Rebounderz was forced to spend its own money to correct those issues, just to stay in business. Additional tenants have repeatedly expressed outrage over the unclean areas and the crime.
The complaints about the mall forced the County Code Enforcement Department to send the owner a violation notice stressing the need to clean things up. The letter also instructed that the owner was to not allow people to camp at the mall's adjacent lot on Lusk and Butano. The notice promised fines to the tune of $500 per violation, per day. Sadly, it does not appear that the Department ever followed through with reinspecting the mall property or fining the owner for repeat violations after the letter was sent.
In 2024, residents of Del Paso Manor and nearby neighborhoods came together seeking enforcement by the County against the crime problems and unsanitary conditions. They were frustrated because Mr. Helm mostly said to talk to the owner and the owner mostly said talk to Helm. County Code Enforcement and the Sheriff’s Department were initially receptive to doing monthly sweeps of the area, but they eventually balked at providing a long-term solution. After some garbage clean ups and arrests, it was apparent that the neighborhoods' persistence was becoming an annoyance. After a redevelopment proposal (most likely "fake") by the Plaza’s owner, the Sheriff’s Department shot down further attempts by the neighborhood seeking enforcement of the area. In subsequent phone calls with the County departments, citizens were told that the business owner is not at fault and that, instead, people should blame elected officials at the Capitol as being responsible for the vagrancy problems.
As of today, the mall owner has not responded to the requests of the neighborhood or his tenants. There are holes and missing panels in the roof, where rain falls into the mall in various spots. Garbage continues to line the sidewalks and parking lot. (see photos, below) The few businesses left are unhappy. Although County Code Enforcement states that Country Club Plaza has an ongoing investigation, the problems have continued. The result - most likely because our community is unincorporated and has to depend on Sacramento County to get the problems fixed - is that the County has not stepped up in any meaningful way. All across Arden Arcade there are dilapidated buildings and shuttered commercial properties that have been taken over by vagrants. The calling cards are litter and garbage (with much-less visible sanitation problems and drug paraphernalia). Despite that, out-of-area property owners are given great latitude and, seemingly, can get away with just about anything. When residents call the County to complain they have been told that these are private property areas where the Sheriff is not allowed to enforce matters without permission from the property owner unless someone is seen committing a crime.
So the County has done little to deal with the problems at the mall or address the expressed concerns of the people that live in our community. Residents have been told that the County does not understand why such areas have attracted camps and crime, despite information given to them by tax payer who live here. Citizens have heard catchy phrases at community meetings like “if you see something say something”, but if concerned citizens dare to actually do that, their concerns are just dismissed. Laws and zoning codes are thus clearly arbitrary. Discretionary enforcement means laws and regulations do not really matter. Tax dollars wind up wasted on occasional neighborhood cleanups while negligent business owners get a free ride. Ask yourself, then, are places like Country Club Plaza the logical result of societal woes or are they symptomatic of mismanagement by those in charge?
The Country Club Plaza problems could all be solved tomorrow if the County cared. The code enforcement letter the County sent stated all sorts of things that could happen to Jeff Helm and the property owner, but the County seems to have chosen not to act - why we do not know. Utimately, though, can you really blame the County for this? Readers of our blog have heard it before - places with Mayors and City Councils are structured to fix problems like Country Club Plaza, but the County is not. Our Supervisor cannot force a minimum of two other people on the Board of Supervisors to vote to care about our community. Besides, his unincorporated area municipal workload is almost three times bigger than his municipal workload for our part of his District. Further, our Supervisor doesn't have direct control over the Sheriff, who is elected countywide. Plus, the Sheriff's enforcement role at the municipal level is more than 6 times bigger than our community's needs and the Sheriff has other duties that involve the entire county. Our community has historically relied on the County. Yet we have continued to stand by and largely remain silent while the County lets things slide. That's on us, not the County. We close, then, with questions we have often posed:
- Are you OK with this? (it goes to your safety, your property values and your quality of life)
- Are you content to let the County have its way? (remember, voters said "no" to0 local control in 2010)
- If you aren't, what are you willing to do to change it? (please email us: advocatesforardenarcade@gmail.com)