Supervisors accept housing element
OROVILLE >> The Butte County Board of Supervisors went over and ultimately approved its Housing Element during its meeting Tuesday.
Paula Daneluk, the director of Butte County Development Services, introduced the item before the board and gave a presentation on the county’s general plan before handing it over to Cynthia Walsh to present the Housing Element. Walsh works with an outside firm called PlaceWorks which has been hired by the county.
The board was given the recommendation to come up with a “common sense” exemption for the 2021-2030 Housing Element to comply with guidelines under the California Environmental Quality Act and adopt the resolution to approve the update of the Housing Element to be in compliance with government code.
Walsh said the Housing Element was submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development for review in 2022 and has since made changes to the document as requested.
The first revision made to the document added that the county would review fees annually and revise them as necessary going forward.
Additionally, additional steps are taken within the document to streamline the process for receiving accessory dwelling unit permits. Accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, refer to structures built on properties that are separate from the main house that can be resided in. An example would be a guesthouse.
In one of the more complex changes, a policy was shifted in the document to reflect the state code for multi-family housing. If a site or parcel has been used for multi-unit housing two or more times and the new developer or owner has a plan in which at least 20% of the units are considered affordable housing, then the applicant in question will be considered “by-right” and receive priority.
A modification was made to the document to include a survey meant to identify places throughout the county that might need help with rehabilitation.
The document now reflects county-backed services for overpaying and impoverished households as well as sites specifically
catering to the homeless population such as the Pallet shelter and Everhart Village in Chico.
Other updates included the following:
• The county added revisions to further reduce development barriers in an effort to assist potential developers to go forward with projects.
• Outreach is happening to garner interest from developers to create farm worker housing.
• Additional information is provided on how outreach is being conducted toward households on emergency energy source assistance and fire risk reduction.
The Housing Needs Assessment also saw some changes. The assessment is the part of the document that goes over local demographics in relation to housing and the housing market.
“We added additional details regarding the condition of the housing stock,” Walsh said. “Specifically the rehab and replacement needs. We added details on the programs and services available
that can support seniors, persons with disabilities, female-headed households and persons experiencing homelessness.”
Walsh said a list of stakeholders who took part in the stakeholder meeting was also added to the document.
Magalia resident John Stonebreaker emphasized the need for housing in burn scar areas.
“The primary thing is that the county needs to make sure housing is rebuilt where housing was lost in areas of the upper ridge that have the infrastructure, that have water in place, that have streets in place,” Stonebreaker said. “This is the best place for new housing to be constructed. We have this rebuild allocation specifically for this purpose and too much of the arena has been allocated outside of these purposes.”
The board unanimously approved the recommendations made by the staff as well as the changes.
The Butte County Board of Supervisors next meets at 9 a.m. Feb. 14 at its chambers located at 25 County Center Drive, Suite 205 in Oroville. Meetings are free and open to the public.