Bee Investigator: McHenry car dealerships’ unsightly neighbor

Ever heard of the broken window theory?

One broken window leads to another, leads to another, until eventually the building is burglarized and squatters move in, lighting fires inside for warmth. Litter on the ground accumulates; piece by piece, it becomes a full-blown dumping ground.

It’s the basis of a more complex theory about crime and human behavior, but for the purpose of this column, we’ll focus on the trash and squatters.

It has happened on a property in a most unexpected location, just a few feet from $70,000 cars for sale.

Between the the Lexus dealership and Roberts Auto Sales is the last large parcel of undeveloped land on McHenry Avenue in Modesto, according to a real estate posting online.

What I imagine was once a working farm is today dead orchards, vineyards and nine abandoned apartments surrounded by piles of trash.

Shopping carts are filled to the brim with old tires and toolboxes, broken umbrellas top several of the trash heaps, an oversized Bugs Bunny stuffed animal sits in a small plastic chair next to a Marvin the Martian positioned on the stoop of one of the abandoned apartments.

“Keep out” is spray-painted on plywood wedged in one of the dead almond trees, and “private property” signs are posted around the apartment, to no avail.

Despite its appearance, the 9-acre property has a $2.1 million listing price. Location, location, location.

It is difficult to see the potential through all the filth, so why doesn’t the property owner make it more presentable?

My efforts to reach him were not successful, but I did talk to his Realtor, Peter Zeff. He said the owner plans to contend with the squatters and demolish the apartments and a few outbuildings.

A fire at the apartments earlier this month likely was caused by a transient living in one of the apartments and using candles for light. Modesto Fire Department investigator Craig Davis said the woman had been living there a few weeks, and he’d talked with another woman who admitted to squatting on the property for a year.

Another fire in June burned several acres and an outbuilding behind the single-family farmhouse next door to Roberts Auto Sales.

There have been some efforts over the years by the owners to keep out undesirables and trash.

Three trespass letters were submitted to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department in 2011 and 2012, according to Sheriff Adam Christianson. He said the letters act as a standing order that allows deputies to arrest anyone who doesn’t belong there without the owner being present. But the last letter expired in September 2012.

Information in the letter states that people had been camping in the orchards and inside the apartments that were first boarded up in 2010.

In 2011, the owner had five buildings – barns and other structures for agriculture use – demolished, according to the county’s supervising building inspector, Denny Ferreira. But he said no permits have been pulled since then for the demolition of any of the remaining properties.

Ferreira said the process is pretty straightforward. It might require testing and remediation for asbestos, but that and the permitting can be done in a matter of days.

A forced cleanup by the county if it determines the property to be a nuisance takes four to six months and includes legal notices, approval by the Nuisance Abatement Board and by the Board of Supervisors. It ends with a lien on the property to recover costs, which can exceed $20,000, Ferreira said.

But the county wouldn’t even go down that road unless someone complained, and nobody has. Not to the building department or code enforcement.

I went to the closest neighbors, the Lexus dealership, and no one wanted to talk about the property.

“You can see for yourself,” was all I got.

So, for now, it’s left to fester. Given the amount of money invested in its surroundings, I don’t think it’s going to take down the whole neighborhood as the broken window theory suggests, but it’s an eyesore nonetheless.

I’ll keep an eye on it and provide updates if there is any progress. Who knows, maybe it will sell and turn into a Porsche dealership to rival its neighbors.

This story was originally published October 26, 2014 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Bee Investigator: McHenry car dealerships’ unsightly neighbor."