Today the Chico Chamber and Police Department are holding a “public safety” meeting at the CARD Center on Vallombrosa. A news reporter was standing out in front of the center in pitch blackness this morning to pitch it on tv. The cops and chamber are desperate to put up a front – they want the public to think they’re on top of the situation.
This is at least the second meeting they’ve held in the “Mangrove Business Corridor.” While the chamber is supposed to represent businesses (members) all over town, the main focus always seems to be Downtown and the surrounding retail centers, the campus area, and once in a while the Nord Avenue corridor. I’ve never heard of a meeting being held in south or north Chico.
Meanwhile, there are other areas of concern, and it seems neither Chico PD nor the chamber are too worried about it.
This building at 2560 S. Whitman sits vacant for months now between Home Depot and TJ Maxx.
I reported a de-facto transient shelter at a vacant building next door to Home Depot, located on South Whitman next to Hwy 99.
https://chicotaxpayers.com/2017/03/29/bum-friendly-business-hostile/
My husband complained about the transients to a staffer at Home Depot, who indicated the problem was ongoing. (“Again?!”) When my husband returned a few days later, the transients and much of the larger trash had been removed. When we went back yesterday we found even more elaborate housing.
It looks like somebody has been living out of this cardboard box for at least a few days. There’s another “shelter” behind this one. Neither were occupied at the time, but note the knife on the ground.
From the looks of that knife, I’d say, don’t wander too close to this building after dark. Home Depot is open until 10 pm, well after dark. There to the upper left you can see the corner of the HD nursery – our truck was parked right out front of this building. I wouldn’t park that close at night.
TJ Maxx is open until 9:30 pm, and I’ve seen a lot of women and kids coming and going from that store, some of them parking over toward the abandoned building. Not that men should have to put up with this stuff either, but having been a mom with tiny tots in tow, I felt particularly vulnerable to these kind of creeps.
I got other pictures but don’t have time to post now – suffice to say, the trash meanders well into the parking lot, and lines the side of the TJ Maxx building.
Leo DePaola, the head of Chico “building services” just had a special meeting for Downtown business owners who are angered at having to pay a $150 permit fee to repair vandalized windows. DePaola, a cranky bastard, stood steadfast on that fee, saying it pays employee costs. He ain’t lying – the city has a pension deficit of nearly $180 million, you know they got costs!
The owner of the bra store says she won’t repair her windows if they don’t dump the fee. I wonder is she’s been out to TJ Maxx lately, got a good look at what the city of Chico allows in the fringe zones. I think the city’s attentions toward Downtown are a double-edge sword – I’m pretty sure some Downtown merchants would say they are put under unfair scrutiny.
While others don’t seem to get any scrutiny at all.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
Leave a Reply