CHICO PLANS FOR MORE GROWTH AT VALLEY’S EDGE
Environmental Impact Report expected to be completed this summer
CHICO » Chico is on the path to develop its largest housing development in its history called the Valley’s Edge.
The Valley’s Edge Specific Plan is a proposal to develop more than 1,400 acres of land located generally to the east of Bruce Road with entrances located at the Skyway and East 20th Street.
It is planned in one of five areas identified in Chico’s 2030 General Plan as a space forecasted for future growth of the population and demand for housing and jobs. The general plan fulfills a state requirement to forecast growth and was adopted in 2011 by the city council at that time.
“The 2030 General Plan identifies trends and movements of people and identifies that the city will need so many units so that they can accommodate the population growth,” Chico Principal Planner Mike Sawley said. “Then we look at vacant land we have around — the fact not all of it’s for sale and stuff like that — and then identify these growth areas as additional options besides infill that can get those units actually built.”
The Valley’s Edge plan was officially received by the city in January 2019 and received public comments on its draft environmental impact report in November 2021. As it stands now, Sawley said the city is working on replying to public comments and aims to be finished by the end of summer 2022,
Assuming the final environmental impact report Valley’s Edge Specific Plan is approved, the city will then have to incorporate the area into Chico’s city limits. From there, permitting and construction of the development may begin.
By the numbers
In terms of the number of residential units, the plan includes 367 very-low density units across 234.7 acres; 1,371 low density units across 333.6 acres; 867 medium density units across 91.2 acres; and 162 medium-high density units across 9 acres — a total of 2,777 residential units across 669 acres, according to the city’s website.
Half of the project is dedicated to age restricted living meaning the community is restricted to people who are 55 years or older.
Approximately 665 acres is left for open space with the objective to preserve the natural area.
Zoning includes 19 acres for a school and 56 acres of two commercial areas called the Village Core — an area focused on family shopping — and the Village Commercial for business and medical offices.
While only 9 acres are dedicated to apartment buildings — also known as multi-family residential — the 56 acres zoned for commercial use may also be used for multi-family housing.
The rest of the acreage is dedicated to project roadways.
Developer’s vision
Valley’s Edge Developer Bill Brouhard said the vision for Valley’s Edge is described by in appendix C of Chico’s 2030 General Plan which can be found at https://bit.ly/3PaksMl.
“It’s my marching orders — do this. But to me, it’s like OK, how do we do that really well? Not just meet those expectations, but create something that is special and meaningful and very authentic,” Brouhard said.
Brouhard said the open space featured in the development was planned first before all else to
protect oak woodlands, seasonal creeks, endangered species and steep hillsides. It also aims to preserve.
From a bird’s eye perspective, the planned development is interwoven with open areas between housing subdivisions and becomes less dense as one travels further east into the property.
The planned community is advertised to have multigenerational uses for home life, work life and play all within a bike ride. Brouhard said age restricted residents will have opportunities to interact with residents in the workforce by accessing its parks.
One park will be open completely to the public, but the rest of the parks and trails will be limited to Valley’s Edge residents and non-residents who purchase a membership.
Criticism
The Valley’s Edge Specific Plan has received criticism from members of the public on its risk to fire damage, its impact to the environment and its viability for housing.
Grace Marvin, conservation chair for the Blue Oak Sierra Club, said the organization, alongside Smart Growth Advocates, wrote a letter to the city regarding the draft environmental impact report.
The letter said the development will destroy natural features in the area including the destruction of grasslands, oak woodlands and vernal pools. It lists shrimp, burrowing owls, wildflowers, fish, coyote, native and migratory birds and turtles as species impacted by the development.
Meanwhile, the Valley’s Edge website claims a 0% effect on wildlife and says 5,500 oak trees will be preserved of a total of about 7,000.
A letter from AquAlliance reviewed the Valley’s Edge draft environmental impact report and said it did
not adequately disclose, analyze and mitigate the project’s impacts to biological resources, water supply, wildlife and other impacts.
A final environmental impact report to be completed by summer 2022 is intended to solidify environmental disputes.
Addison Winslow is a housing analyst for the Butte Environmental Council
and helped prepare a letter to respond to the draft environmental impact report.
In the letter, Addison proposes two alternatives: restrict the development to be a single street with high density units allowing for public transit routes, or total conservation — meaning no development.
Winslow said the development fails to accommodate documented housing needs for the majority of Chico and that infill development would be more preferable.
“Smart growth would mean developing in the already existing areas. But if we’re going to develop out here, we should develop in a way that’s more sustainable than recent suburban sprawl,” Addison said.
To build, or not to build
Ed Mayer, executive director of the Housing Authority of the County of Butte, said Butte County is in a housing deficit between 6,000 to 15,000 units.
The Camp Fire in 2018 destroyed 12,600 units in
Paradise which Mayer said have yet to be replaced.
A large demand for housing, Mayer said, comes from retired people looking to downsize and young people in college. Mayer said an analysis of Chico shows that for every studio and one-bedroom apartment, there are 10 households that want it.
“You can’t just say no to growth. Saying no to growth is kind of like asking your 5-year-old to wear the same set of clothes until they’re 10. We’ve got to accommodate growth and we have to do it responsibly,” Mayer said.
The development isn’t focused on small units rather than mostly single family homes. But Brouhard said demand for single family housing is equally as high with roughly 1,000 buyers competing for 90 homes on the market in Chico.
“The housing demand isn’t just for multi-family units or for affordable housing units or for estate lots. It’s for everything. So the solution to providing housing begins with land. You have to have land that is ready and suitable in order to accommodate the demand for housing — however it exists — at some point in the future,” Brouhard said.
Mayer supports the development because of the sheer demand for housing needed now.
“It’s a very well thought and well presented plan. Bill’s track record in town is impeccable; he does some of Chico’s nicest development work. He’s consulted with us; he’s ensured there’s a broad variety of housing — in my opinion,” Mayer said.
The Chico City Council in 2020 put special planning areas on hold until the housing element of the 2030 General Plan — which Valley’s Edge is based on — was amended.
On April 22, 2022 the council voted to end the delay on special planning areas without the housing element amendment.
The housing element is scheduled to be completed this month.