Sanderson Ford postpones move to Windsor

The drop-off in auto sales is forcing Sanderson Ford to postpone plans to build a new dealership in Windsor and leave its long-standing home in downtown Healdsburg.

For more than a decade, owner Tim Sanderson has planned to move his dealership to highly visible frontage along Highway 101 at the north end of Windsor. But that?s been shelved indefinitely.

?It?s basically because of the fall-off in car sales,? architect Del Starrett said. ?What Tim is doing is hunkering down until we see a stable trend in term of car sales.?

Construction on the project, which is expected to cost $7 million including land and other earlier expenses, was scheduled to begin this spring and completed in about one year, said Starrett, who designed the Windsor project.

Sanderson declined comment and referred all inquiries to Starrett. Sanderson remains committed to moving to Windsor, even if he can?t predict when, Starrett said.

?Tim has always said he?s going to build this dealership. It?s a goal that he has, to have it completed at some point in history,? Starrett said.

Healdsburg officials years ago fought Windsor?s plans to annex the new Sanderson site, claiming the dealership would encroach on open space between the two cities. Last week, Healdsburg officials said they were glad to see the dealership stay in town, if only for the time being.

?We?re happy to retain the sales tax revenues because that auto dealer segment is our biggest-producing sales tax segment,? said Healdsburg City Manager Marjie Pettus. ?We were thinking when Sanderson moved we?d be struggling to replace the revenue.?

But Healdsburg officials say it?s not solely about retaining income from the car sales.

?Sanderson is one of the oldest businesses in town,? said Mayor Eric Ziedrich. ?It brings a lot of history and the family?s been involved in development in town for decades.?

Sanderson Ford has been in downtown Healdsburg since 1946 and moved to its current three-acre site, a few blocks north of the Healdsburg Plaza, in 1952.

More than a decade ago Sanderson began planning to move to the seven-acre site used as a grazing pasture north of Arata Lane.

The architectural vision for Sanderson Ford is to create a unique dealership ? not the typical sea of cars on an asphalt lot under bright lights.

The ?ranch and barn? style would have open air pavilions surrounded by grass and shaded by numerous trees.

?It?s very customer-friendly, almost park-like in nature,? Starrett said. ?You won?t have the big giant gorillas, or signs and crazy elements you see at other dealerships.?

Windsor officials have been eager to bring the dealership south and approved almost all facets of the project, other than some engineering and building permits. They remain hopeful that Sanderson Ford will one day be in Windsor.

?We hope when the economy turns around, he will pick the project back up and build the wonderful dealership we all hope to happen here,? said Town Manager Matt Mullan.

Nationally, the auto industry has seen a precipitous decline in sales over the past year. In March, new vehicle sales fell for the 17th consecutive month, pushing General Motors and Chrysler to the verge of bankruptcy.

Ford Motor Company, the only Detroit automaker not taking federal aid, reported a 41 percent decline in sales last month, compared to March 2008.

Healdsburg?s revenues from new and used car sales peaked in 2002 at $854,621, and were down to $533,724 collected at the close of the 2007-08 fiscal year. Most of the tax comes from the trio of dealers on Healdsburg Avenue, including Sanderson, but some is derived from a specialty truck dealer.

In an attempt to reduce the decline in sales, the city?s Redevelopment Agency has twice contributed $100,000 toward an advertising campaign touting Healdsburg auto dealers.