Carl Leverenz and the demise of county islands

The recent passing of Carl Leverenz calls to mind the important but quiet work he performed as head of the Local Agency Formation Commission of Butte County.

LAFCO was established in each of the state’s 58 counties in 1963 to regulate the establishment and boundaries of cities and special districts in order to ensure a more economic and sustainable land use pattern, one that discouraged urban sprawl and extended government services efficiently. Carl joined the Commission in 1973 and was chosen as Chair in 1975; he served continuously in that role for the next 46 years.

Butte County LAFCO has a lot on its plate, most recently its review of the proposal to extend a sewer line from Paradise to Chico’s wastewater plant and its approval of the Tuscan Water District. But one of its most important functions has been the bringing of properties outside of city limits into municipal boundaries. Carl believed that the county should focus on regional, not local, services and that unincorporated areas are served more efficiently by surrounding cities.

Historically in Butte County, permissive zoning combined with a willingness of county officials to provide urban type services to developments outside of incorporated areas led to a great deal of urban sprawl, the consequential loss of agricultural land and, of course, the inefficient delivery of services. In the Chico area it led to a host of unincorporated county islands residing inside the city’s boundaries over which the city had no control: island homes were not connected to the city’s sewer system and municipal laws regarding zoning, leaf burning, sign ordinances etc. could not be enforced.

Indeed, without a coded map, it was often hard to tell whether or not individual properties were located in the city or in the county. At one time Chico was competing with San Jose as to which city had the most county islands within its city limits.

Under Carl’s leadership the commission set as a goal the rationalization of the planning and development process through the incorporation and annexation of the county’s unincorporated lands.

In furtherance of that goal, Carl played a dominant role in the incorporation of the Town of Paradise. He constantly stressed to cities the need to clean up their county islands before any new annexations could occur and as result annexations of unincorporated islands have taken place throughout the county. He enthusiastically supported Chico’s annexation of the historical islands of Chapman/ Mulberry in 2015 and the annexation of the lands of South Oroville to Oroville in 2016. Significantly, Carl’s last vote this past April was for LAFCO to approve the City of Chico’s Island Annexation Agreement.