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Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, but in Auburn, what is beautiful to one person is blighted to another. Just ask Earl Eisley.
His family has operated a nursery in Auburn for more than 100 years, and photos characterizing portions of his business on Nevada Street as "blighted" turned up in a report identifying areas for redevelopment in Auburn. Fearing his property was earmarked for condemnation under the city’s eminent domain powers, Eisley wasted no time in marshalling support forces at council meetings and through a letter-writing campaign to head off this perceived threat to his family’s legacy.
The ironic thing is the current Auburn City Council would never consider invoking eminent domain to wrest juicy property from any citizen. One reason is our council members all hold tightly and truly to conservative ideals, of which the rights of property ownership are premiere. The other reason is it just isn’t worth the hassle. I mean come on, City Council meetings drone on long enough without having to sit through hours of public tongue lashings.
On the surface, the economic possibilities inherent in the 480-acre redevelopment area coupled with an ambitious Streetscape program to give sagging areas of town a facelift is a grand and noble endeavor. I sat on the Auburn Economic Development Commission during the early stages of the planning, and I truly believe the Streetscape program can bring some needed improvements quickly, through standardized directional signage and the addition of elements such as quality street benches, trash receptacles, lighting and information kiosks.
The rest of it is going to be a bigger problem—tearing up streets to make infrastructure improvements and partially funding facade renovations for private property owners.
One thing to understand about the Streetscape program is it is being billed as a project to link Downtown and Old Town. This is true ... to a point. And that point is the corner of Auburn Folsom Road and Lincoln Way, where the vast majority of planned Streetscape improvements end. Since project details haven’t been formalized yet this is just an informed guess, but my estimate is better than 90% of all funds for the Streetscape program will be spent Downtown. So let’s call this what it truly is: a Downtown beautification project—which I’m cool with—but not the City’s marketing approach to sell this concept in Lower Town.
Another important goal is to create a pedestrian walkway from Downtown to Old Town. It already is possible to negotiate this distance on foot thanks to sidewalks installed by our forwarding-thinking City Fathers of bygone eras, but no one used them then and no one will use them after they have been beautified. The reason is Californians don’t walk.
The same people who live in our Endurance Capital of the World and think nothing of getting in a 10-mile jog before breakfast, find their running shorts in a bunch when a parking spot isn’t available in front of the store they wish to patronize. Moreover, the notion that people will walk from Downtown to Old Town when early evening temperatures spike at 100 degrees is ludicrous. We’ll need to install Western States 100 aid stations every 75 yards along Lincoln Way, with volunteers handing out bottled water.
Three issues are of genuine concern to me as this program unfolds. First, I would be very disappointed if the Streetscape program results in Auburn taking on the squeaky-clean appearance of a Los Gatos or Walnut Creek. Seven years ago when I first came to Auburn, one big draw for me was the gritty realness of the place. The precise appeal is hard to explain—like a beautiful person with a few obvious flaws that rather than diminish make that person even more compelling and special. Auburn is funky and quirky and I like it that way.
Second, though City Manager Bob Richardson has been on the rubber-chicken circuit for more than a year stumping the Streetscape and redevelopment plans, not every soul in town is convinced of the brilliance of the schemes. Bob, you still gotta lota splain’ to do, especially door-to-door before the streets are torn up in front of individual businesses. Though specific improvements may seem well conceived on paper, they just might not pass muster in the real world. Your people need to knock on doors before they start drawing chalk lines in the street.
And third, keep your designers under control in Old Town. It’s pretty much perfect ... warts and all.
Note #1 to Auburn City Council: If you need to recruit high-powered talent to get a job done in Auburn, I suggest you draft Earl Eisley. (Hey Earl, now that your backyard is out of harm’s way, what about your neighbors?)
Note #2 to Auburn City Council: Why is former IT Director Ernest Shih still on paid administrative leave (after 15 months)? All charges against him were dropped in April. Wouldn’t it be more cost-effective to just settle?
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Gary Moffat is a journalist and co-owner of Carpe Vino in Old Town Auburn. Read his other work at www.onlyinauburn.com and www.carpevinoauburn.com .
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