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Owner of unkempt plot says he's not going anywhere
Fred Chartrand, 85, owns Ed's Bargain Center on Old Redwood Highway north of Shiloh Road in Windsor. The Windsor Town Council has approved a plan to expand the area covered by the town's redevelopment agency, which would include Chartrand's property.
Kent Porter / The Press DemocratPublished: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 10:27 p.m.
Ed's Bargain Center, a ramshackle acre strewn with old washing machines, stoves and refrigerators, could be “Exhibit A” for some of the blight the Town of Windsor wants to wipe out.
Located along Old Redwood Highway, just north of Shiloh Road, it's a relic that doesn't fit the vision of smart growth and the “compact residential” designation for the property in Windsor's general plan.
Fred Chartrand, the owner of the property, has lived there since 1950 and doesn't dispute the town's description of his property as having serious code violations because of “building exterior deterioration.”
“I was here when they didn't have no codes, so I would be in code violation,” said the amiable 85-year-old who likes tinkering with old appliances, fixing them and selling parts to occasional customers.
Behind a sagging wooden fence that runs along his property, across from Esposti Park, are 100 to 150 decades-old appliances packed into a workshop and lined up in the yard.
A few decrepit trailers, ancient motorhomes, camper shells, rusting pickups, truck bodies, tires and cannibalized motorcycles are part of the scene, framed by weeds, twisted metal roofing and refrigeration coils.
Chartrand said he's long been a thorn in the side of officialdom, whether it was the county or Windsor after incorporation in 1992, when his property became part of the town.
“I've been in trouble with them for years. They've tried to shut me down more than once,” he said of the push to make changes. “I know they can't touch me. I was here long before they had zones, or codes or anything.”
And he doesn't wish to be included in a redevelopment agency project that Windsor officials want for the area, part of a government approach designed to revitalize blighted neighborhoods.
“I don't like it at all. I don't want to be in it,” he said, explaining that he likes things just as they are.
Windsor officials deny any plans to shut down Chartrand's business or force him to do anything with his property, even if it is an eyesore.
Although a redevelopment project report prepared with the help of consultants shows alleged code violations on his property, Windsor officials say that's different from an enforcement activity.
“Have we actively pursued getting him out of there? Not that I'm aware of,” said Windsor associate planner Pauletta Cangson. “I do code enforcement. I can't remember a code violation there that I've worked on in probably a dozen years.”
She said there were complaints about code violations on the site related to a fallen fence in 1994. And several years before that, predating Windsor's incorporation, she said the county handled a violation on the property related to reconstruction of the billboard.
“If there were a safety or welfare issue, of course we would try to get it to conform, or clean up,” she added, but she said she is not aware of any such problems on Chartrand's property.
Chartrand's business will likely benefit from redevelopment around him, even if he does nothing, said Assistant Town Manager Christa Johnson.
Street, sidewalk, lighting and other improvements in the neighborhood “can only increase the value of this gentleman's property,” she said.
Chartrand said he was offered $1 million for his property about six months ago by a local developer but turned it down. He said he has no intention to sell.
“I can't go nowhere else and do this,” he said of his appliance salvage operation.
The offer for his land is a far cry from the $6,000 he says he paid for his acre 60 years ago. At the time, that was a premium price because it was along the main highway.
A 1943 graduate of Santa Rosa High and a Navy veteran of World War II, Chartrand settled on the Windsor property and raised six children. The “Ed” in the bargain center was named after his former father-in-law.
Chartrand lives there now with his wife, Vera, 79, and his stepson, Leonard Harris, 54.
What happens to the property after he's gone is uncertain. For now, he wants to “just piddle around 'til I pass on.”
He knows the redevelopment process can take years.
“If they take decades, I'll be dead anyway,” he said. “Then I won't worry about it.”
You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com.
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