Tom Beauchamp and Eric Seider are leading the Fair Oaks Art Wall and Food Forest project on the corner of Sunrise and Fair Oaks boulevards. Photo by Judy Andrews

 

FAIR OAKS, CA (MPG) - Something is happening to the long-vacant lot at the busy corner of Sunrise and Fair Oaks Boulevards. From eyesore to eye-catching, the neglected property is coming alive.

Known to locals as the “No Barking” lot, the property has been vacant since the 1980s, when the county widened lanes on Sunrise Boulevard, removing a house and outbuildings that belonged to the Polley family in Fair Oaks.

Thanks to the creative vision of Fair Oaks resident and business entrepreneur Tom Beauchamp, the empty lot is receiving a makeover.

About 25,000 vehicles pass the lot daily.

Recognizing the corner property's high visibility factor, Beauchamp started working with Dr. Dave Polley and his wife, Madonna, on an improvement plan. Dave Polley owns a chiropractic business in Fair Oaks and Madonna Polley is director and founder of the Fair Oaks Massage Institute.

Permaculture Expert Eric Seider checks crops in the garden. Photo by Judy Andrews

During his first talk with the Polleys, Beauchamp reminisced, “I wondered, ‘Why don’t we beautify the corner for everyone to enjoy?’ ‘No Barking’ had been a meme in the community for years. When you mention the ‘No Barking’ lot in Fair Oaks, everyone knows what you mean.”

The Polleys, who had been trying to sell the property for years without success, loved the proposal.

Dave Polley explained how “No Barking” appeared on the wall.

“Years ago, the county asked us to put up 'No Parking' signs on the property. We hired a local artist, Hugh Goreman, to paint 'No Parking' on an existing concrete wall,” Polley said. “Then, about 20 years ago, a kid came along and changed the P into a B, which set off the joke. Every time the county came out to paint over the B, someone changed it back. This went on for years, until the county finally gave up.”

Art Wall Installation

A 12-foot-by-24-foot art wall has been constructed on the south end of the lot, designated for murals. Beauchamp is coordinating with Wide Open Walls Sacramento, a nonprofit organization that promotes public art, to schedule some artists, as well as drawing talent from other local and guest artists he knows.

“We debated what the inaugural mural should be,” Beauchamp said. “It made sense that a chicken be the one to kick things off. We found the artist, Tim Lindsay, through Wide Open Walls. Lindsay is an accomplished mural artist with many works around Sacramento. The art will be changed out three times a year.”

"The community art installation is supported by local independent businesses and organizations that wish to help the artists and bring positive awareness to a once neglected, abandoned lot," Beauchamp added. "The initiative is a win for the community, the local economy, and the cultural landscape of Fair Oaks and Sacramento."

For more information on the Fair Oaks Art Wall project, contact Beauchamp at 707-208-5481 or at [email protected].

Artist Tim Lindsay is a Sacramento muralist from Wide Open Walls who was chosen to paint the first mural. Photo by Judy Andrews

Food Forest Installation

On the north side of the “No Barking” lot, next to the car lot, is Fair Oaks’ first community food forest, or permaculture garden, which volunteers installed in May.

The project is led by international permaculture consultant, designer and educator Eric Seider, who co-founded Permaculture Fair Oaks, a nonprofit organization, in 2024. The organization’s mission is to promote community resiliency, food and future security and abundance through permaculture education and demonstration.

As Seider explained, a food forest’s structure includes seven layers: canopy, understory, shrub layer, herbaceous layer, ground cover, root layer and climbing layer. It can be designed using all these elements, with food grown for human consumption. The goal of a food forest is to become stable and self-sustaining, and after three to five years, it begins to take care of itself.

“Tom approached me about the idea of using a portion of the vacant lot to develop a food forest where we could donate the food to the Orangevale-Fair Oaks Food Bank,” Seider said. “At first, I wasn’t keen on it because I knew the property was for sale.”

After further consideration, Seider said, he considered that it could work using fabric pots, which prevent roots from circling inside like plastic pots.

“Certain pots designated for the nursery industry can be buried in the ground, to grow trees for two to three years and then be dug out later,” Seider said. “I thought, ‘Wow, this could work.’ If the lot gets sold, we’d take the trees with us. That opened up all kinds of possibilities for what we could do with the space. It just blossomed from there.”

Tom Beauchamp wears his No Barking T-shirt in front of the landmark sign. Photo by Judy Andrews

Beauchamp and Seider reached out to community businesses and individuals for donations, including Green Acres Nursery, Sacramento Tree Foundation, SMUD, Hastie’s Capitol Sand & Gravel, Drip Depot, Root Trapper, Lawson SSP Group, Gary Grewel, and more.

What’s next for the food forest?

“All the food will be donated. Although it may not be much in the first year and access to the space is not ideal,” Seider replied, “there is significant potential for expansion and growth. Our dream is to use this site as an example to create an education center and living model for future community food forests in and around Fair Oaks.”

Permaculture Fair Oaks meets from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. every fourth Wednesday at the Tudors Event Center, 10120 Fair Oaks Blvd. For more information about meetings and the project or to contact Seider, visit permaculturefairoaks.org.