Brick-and-mortar retail isn't the same these days as it was some years ago. Big malls that used to flourish are struggling to adapt.  Our local Country Club Center (CCC) and Country Club Plaza (CCP) are on life support, as is Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights. Arden Fair Mall is hanging on, but its glory days are clearly gone, too. Country Club Center's main building is mostly a ghost town now, though it seems the Center's owners have been able to get by with State of California offices and the Costco Business big box. Across the street, Country Club Plaza is a mess. Winco owns its end of the mall. Macy's owns its ghost store at the other end. The rest of the site has gone way downhill. Both CCC and CCP seem to think fast food chicken drive-thrus will save them. What is apparent at both CCC and CCP is that traditional retail models don't work. Meanwhile, the community suffers as the two large sites at the core of our community rot away. The County, which is supposed to be our Guardian Angel for local economic development,  is - as Supervisor Rich Desmond is inclined to say - obviously "not up to the job".

Meanwhile, up in Citrus Heights, Sunrise Mall is dying a slow death. Some would say it already has a foot in the grave. Still, Citrus Heights is a city, and cities hate it when their local economy falls apart. Cities also have the ability and motivation to do something to fix their problems. So it was no surprise that the Ciy of Citrus Heights adopted a strategy to re-work Sunrise Mall, the Sunrise Tomorrow plan. Sunrise Mall has many of the same condo-ownership complications that our two malls do. You can't expect the city to snap its fingers and the mall owners to comply.  Besides, local governments are not supposed to steamroll either their constituents or their property owners. The pathway for re-envisioning Sunrise Mall for future generations has to go at a snail's pace, even if quick-buck developers like Ethan Conrad want to bring back the good old days. Just as you can't turn an aircraft carrier or an oil tanker around on a dime, you can't expect large retail commercial sites from the 1960s to become relevant overnight for the 2030s and beyond.  Still, the existing facilities cannot be allowed to fall into disrepair; at least minimal maintenance and upkeep are required. And that's exactly what the City of Citrus Heights has been doing at  Sunrise Mall with its code enforcement program. The Sacramento Bee had an article recently about the City of Citrus Heights fining the mall's owners for some significant code violations - leaky roofs, trip hazards, junk and debris, structural problems, and so on. 

A local government enforcing municipal code requirements for things like life safety and basic eyesores that harm adjacent property values? Imagine that! Well, in our case, its really hard to imagine it, because enforcement of county codes is kind of hit-and-miss here. And the County wouldn't dare interfere with the business plans of absentee owners.  It's that "not up to the job" thing, apparently. Oh, sure, from time to time the Sheriff and/or County Code Enforcement step up like they should. But the reality is they cannot keep pace with the malperformance of our local malls' property managers. That's particularly true at CCP, where the out-of-area owners have an out-of-area property manager whose purpose in life seems to be keeping the rest of the community at arm's length. The failure to at least keep CCP tidy has spilled over to the old Sam's/Tower Books & Records strip mall across the street, led to squatters across Watt and Butano, and is causing problems for Emigh's.  Don't believe it? Check out the Arden Arcade/Carmichael/Sacramento Unincorporated District 3 community page on Facebook. We know the County lacks the spine needed to prompt the owners of its failing malls to straighten up and fly right, whereas the City of Citrus Heights has local control and uses it. Hmm...what does that tell you?