KELSEYVILLE – The Board of Supervisors has granted another 30 days to a property owner whose land was ordered abated in January.

At its April 8 meeting the board was set to consider bids amounting to just under $30,000 for phase one cleanup at various sites on Charles Fowler's property on Adobe Creek Road.

The board voted in January to abate Fowler's 360-acre property, which has excessive amounts of garbage and scrap metal, junker vehicles, greenwaste and other materials.

Code Enforcement Manager Voris Brumfield said Fowler had made great progress in his own efforts on the cleanup so far.

However, Brumfield reported that Fowler was wanting to keep unpermitted trailers on his property, trailers which had been used for farmworker housing.

She also reported to the board that Fowler had told her he was felt his rights had been violated during Code Enforcement visits on his property, and that he was coerced to remove items from his property – including equipment – that he should have been allowed to keep.

Fowler told the board that Code Enforcement "raided" his property while he was in the hospital, being treated for a tumor on his pituitary gland.

Up until that time, Fowler said he had a viable cattle operation on the property. He said this spring he was forced to sell the rest of the cattle, and lost 100 years of genetics that had been developed on the property in doing so.

"You are putting me out of business by your actions," he said, saying the board was paying "lip service" to wanting to help farming in the county.

"I don't appreciate people making decisions about what we need for farm equipment and what we don't," he said.

He said Code Enforcement told him that he couldn't keep various pieces of equipment on the property.

Then, he added, "The county chased away my farmworkers, threatening them with a visit from CPS (Child Protective Services) if they did not leave."

Fowler said he needed to be compensated for the loss of materials and farm income he's suffered, and said the county's actions weren't supported according to a decision by the California Supreme Court.

Board Chair Ed Robey told Fowler that he was blaming the fact that "you've created one of the biggest messes we've ever encountered in Lake County" on Code Enforcement.

Fowler replied, "The exaggeration of Code Enforcement has been tremendous in this matter."

He also maintained that he was running a "legitimate composting operation" with the tons of greenwaste he had allowed to be dumped on the property by Lakeport Disposal.

Supervisor Rob Brown didn't question all of the issues of exaggeration brought up by Fowler. Instead, he focused on one area he knew to absolutely be accurate from his visits to the property – the conditions of the trailers Fowler had placed there, where farmworkers and their children had been living.

Brown called it "unbelievable" that children should have been living in those conditions, and said county staff shouldn't have threatened to call CPS, they should have just done it.

Fowler replied that the trailers were legally installed.

If the bids were awarded to the contractors and tax liens were placed on the property, Fowler – his voice breaking with emotion – said he wouldn't be able to stay on the land and would have to sell.

"Can we get some facts interjected?" asked Community Development Director Rick Coel.

Coel said his department, which includes Code Enforcement, has no desire to put Fowler out of business, adding that they've taken "extraordinary steps" to work with him.

He also addressed Fowler's claims that the trailers were legally installed because they were brought there prior to a need for permits.

"We've required building permits in this county since the 1950s," said Coel. "To say that there trailers were brought in prior to our requirements for building permits is just not true."

The trailers have serious electrical connections and sanitation issues, said Coel. One also has severe mold problems. "I stand by the actions we took."

Fowler said he didn't intend to allow Code Enforcement staff on his property in the future unless they were supervised. He said people have come to his property, hearing the land is in abatement, and attempted to take things.

Various people, including an attorney, have advised Fowler to take legal action to stop the abatement, he said.

Responding to Fowler's assertions of coercion, Brumfield said some of the equipment removed from the property was taken off by Fowler himself, not at the request of Code Enforcement.

The issues of equipment, said Coel, centered around "an excessive amount of storage" Fowler had at the site.

Because Fowler had made progress in the cleanup – pictures Brumfield presented showed areas along Adobe Creek Road looking far improved – the board delayed awarding bids in order to give him additional time.

Supervisor Jeff Smith suggested that at least one of the trailers could be moved to a piece of the property that is technically a separate lot, which would allow Fowler to legally keep it. However, Code Enforcement staff said the trailer would need to have its mold removed.

The matter will return to the board in May, when the board directed staff return with another progress report.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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