Butte Meadows / Jonesville - Community Meeting Summary

The Butte County General Plan 2030 Community Workshop for the Butte Meadows/Jonesville community was held on June 23, 2007, at 10:00 am at Fire Station #10, 7680 Humboldt Road, Butte Meadows. This meeting is one of 20 community meetings scheduled to take place in all of the unincorporated parts of Butte County.  The meetings are designed to take input directly from community members about their area’s assets, issues, and community vision for consideration of land use changes by the General Plan 2030 process.

About 52 people attended the meeting. Also in attendance were 2 members of Butte County's Citizens Advisory Committee (Bruce McClintock and Sue Seropian). Butte County Department of Development Services staff Pete Calarco and Noel Carvalho gave an overview of the Butte County General Plan 2030 process as an introduction to the evening. For the next 90 minutes, they facilitated a discussion about the area's assets, issues, and areas for potential future change. The following summarizes the assets and issues discussed at this meeting: 

Assets

Located approximately 36 miles northeast of Chico, the scenic mountain community of Butte Meadows/Jonesville is home to nearly 1500 residents. Many residents live in the community fulltime while others are second homeowners that reside in the area seasonally. The area’s natural beauty and wealth of recreational opportunities, like fishing and riding of off-road vehicles, were identified the areas greatest assets. Additionally, the quiet community noted the simple pleasure of a leisurely stroll or bike ride through the neighborhood as an asset. In the event of an emergency, the remote community is served by a safety landing pad. This community built public safety feature was listed as a benefit as well.    

Issues

Community members noted several wide-ranging issues that need improvement but focused mainly on the issues of road conditions and public safety. Humboldt Road is the main route through town and connects the community to Highway 32. This narrow two-lane road divides the community and is used equally by local vehicles and pedestrians, visitors, timber trucks, cyclists and equestrians. The myriad of users sharing the road stresses the corridor, which creates many public safety issues. Auto and truck users traveling at excessive speeds compound the condition. The 35 mile per hour speed limit is largely ignored. During the snowy winter months, visitors in vehicles inadequate for the adverse conditions often get stuck, placing much of the burden on local residents to clear the way.

The beautiful scenery and abundant recreational opportunities draw many visitors. However, as noted by many residents, a lack of adequate public signage, public parking and access result in much frustration. Residents often find their property reluctantly serving the needs of visitors unaware of the proper recreational areas. One resident shared a story of visitors harvesting Christmas trees from his property. Residents feel the county should do more to channel visitors of the proper recreational areas and inform them about the varying conditions. A list below identifies additional issues identified at the meeting.

Vision

Residents largely admire their community as it exists today. They insist that as growth occurs, it is first supported by adequate infrastructure and fits with the existing character of the community. Additional commercial/retail will be necessary to support a growing community as well. Also identified were expanded recreational opportunities and better channeling of visitors to the appropriate facilities.   

Butte Meadows / Jonesville - Assets-Issues-Vision
 

Assets List
 

1. Walkability
2. Cycling
3. Horseback Riding
4. Abundance of recreational opportunities- hunting, fishing, off road vehicles
5. Natural Beauty
6. Safety Landing Pad
7. Lack of government presence

Issues List

1. Consistent / uniform zoning of adjacent parcels
2. Road Conditions
   1. Lack of maintenance during winter months create safety issues
   2. Excessive speed on Humboldt Rd / 35mph speed limit is ignored
   3. Excessive speed on Humboldt Rd threatens the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians
   4. Need traffic calming measures to reduce excessive speeds
   5. Need crosswalk
   6. Improved road maintenance
   7. Need traffic enforcement
   8. New development should fund road improvements
   9. Road maintenance should stay ahead of development and additional traffic
   10. No desire for curb and gutter
   11. No desire for wider roads
3. County should allow timber harvest as a permitted use
4. Need harvest control on a local level
5. Need a Sheriff substation
6. Don’t need a Sheriff substation
7. Need better coordination between County and Forest Service on permit requests, land practices and enforcement
8. Need power service at Safety Landing Pad / promised in the past by the County and PG&E
9. Antiquated communication service
10. Need county funded internet service
11. The public phone booths were removed by the phone company
12. There is poor or non-existent cellular phone service
13. Visitor trespassing on private property and illegal tree cutting
14. Visitors are often unprepared and have inadequate vehicles for winter road conditions– burden is placed on residents
15. Need public safety signage advising visitors of private property and adverse road conditions- signs must fit character, no sign pollution
16. Discharging of fire arms- noise and safety concerns

Change Area / Vision

1. Enhanced tree protection measures in relation to development density
2. An area to legally/safely discharge firearms
3. Additional commercial/retail to meet the needs of the growing community.
4. Enhance and preserve existing community character
5. Smaller parcel sizes
6. Expand recreational opportunities / access

© Copyright 2006-2008, Butte County Department of Development Services
For questions or information regarding our website, please contact dswebmaster