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Chico Scrapyard Opponents Crushed—By A Typo

Chico Scrap Metal probably isn’t going anywhere.

The group calling itself Move the Junkyard suspended efforts, acknowledging that their best shot — a city wide referendum this November —wasn’t in the cards. All because of an official city typo.

Deborah Presson is Chico’s city clerk.

“There was a clerical error contained in one of the exhibits attached to ordinance number 2482,” Presson said.

To fix that typo, Presson is urging the council to rescind its decision to allow the scrapyard to stay. The process would then start over. Karl Ory, a former Chico mayor and a leader of Move the Junkyard, said that the deadline for getting a referendum on the November ballot will elapse before the council votes again.  

For environmental activists in a community nearly evenly divided politically, timing is everything.

November offers Chico’s liberals a fleeting electoral opportunity. According to voter registration data, Democrats outnumber Republicans in Chico by 5,200. But like trends nationally, without a presidential contest, turnout among Democrats drops significantly.

Richard Harriman, an attorney and member of Move the Junkyard, at this point favors negotiations. He suggested that a compromise involving financial aid for the business and help securing a new site would yield better results for all than litigation.

“When you talk to the litigants afterwards you say, ‘You know, we really done a better job if we sat down and used our brains instead of our testosterone,’” Harriman said.

The issue returns to the council June 7.