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Forest Ranch -
Community Meeting Summary
The Butte County
General Plan 2030 Community Workshop for the Forest
Ranch community was held on May 9, 2007. 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 30 people
attended the Forest Ranch meeting. Also in
attendance were 5 members of Butte County's Citizens
Advisory Committee (Bruce McClintock, Sue Seropian,
Georgie Bellin, Ed Miller and Jeff Carter). Butte
County Department of Development Services staff
Chuck Thistlethwaite 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
Residents of the
Forest Ranch area have a strong sense of community.
In general, the list of assets revolves around the
quality of life the woodland community offers.
Located approximately 15 miles northeast of Chico,
many residents gladly make the short drive to the
nearby urban areas for employment and to obtain
goods and services not available in the local
community. Many residents mentioned the positive
trade offs of living in the sparsely populated
woodland community versus the urban areas. Known for
its scenic canyon drive, Highway 32 is the main
route connecting Forest Ranch to Chico and to
Highway 99. Residents expressed their admiration for
the natural beauty along this drive and throughout
the community. They also note it as one of the major
reasons for residing in the area.
Issues
Several issued were
identified at the community meeting, topping the
list were roads and water resources. Highway 32
bisects the Forest Ranch Community, and while is a
state route, it is poses many concerns the citizens
would like the Butte County General Plan to address.
Vehicles traveling at high speeds through the
community are a great concern to residents entering
or crossing the highway from residential roads. It
is feared that additional development could increase
the potential for collisions on the highway.
Additionally, there are many concerns regarding the
inadequate parking, traffic control and unsafe
pedestrian crossing at the unofficial disk golf
course located on the upper south rim of Bidwell
Park. Residents noted that the combination of high
speeds and inadequate traffic control at the course
is a dangerous combination.
The variable water
supply is another concern to some residents of the
community. While some wells are threatened by a dry
season, other wells are not. Parcel splitting on
adjacent land and the ensuing wells was voiced as an
additional concern by neighbors. Residents also
asked about possible impacts additional development
could have on the water supply to the community as a
whole. In general, many community members felt the
water supply of the Forest Ranch community and
Countywide are not protected adequately.
Vision
Residents of Forest
Ranch treasure their foothill community. As stated
by one resident but agreed by all, the community
needs protect and enhance all the assets that that
give the area its high quality of life. The vision
includes security and protection from additional
strains future development could have on traffic
safety, road maintenance and water supply.
The information
obtained from this meeting will be provided to the
Butte County 2030 Citizens Advisory Committee, the
Planning Commission, and the Board of Supervisors.
The information will be used to help create the
Butte County General Plan 2030 land use alternatives
that will be discussed in Workshop Series #2, which
begins with a Public Workshop on May 17, 2007 at
6:00 to 9:00 pm at the Oroville Municipal
Auditorium. This Public Workshop will follow with
additional meetings with the Citizens Advisory
Committee, Planning Commission, and Board of
Supervisors.
Forest Ranch -
Assets-Issues-Vision
Assets List
-
Quality of life
-
Scenic drive to
Forest Ranch
-
Chipping
program
-
Natural Beauty
of the community and surrounding area
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Close proximity
to Bidwell Park
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Privacy
-
Strong sense of
community
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Local
agriculture
-
Chipping
program
Issues List
-
Variable water
supply/depths
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Illegal dumping
on private or public lands / funding for cleanup
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Discharging of
fire arms
-
New
development- impact on existing paved/unpaved
roads and water supply
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Roads need to
be brought up to higher standards
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County should
pressure the state to widen portions of hwy 32
for improved safety
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Speeding
drivers on hwy 32 are a hazard for residents
entering hwy
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Parking at the
disc golf course is unorganized and very
dangerous for motorist passing through
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Gravel turnouts
or roads off hwy 32 are dangerous to enter at
higher speeds
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County should
allow two acre parcels in Forest Ranch
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Noise from air
breaks use by tractor trailers disrupts the
peace
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Slow response
of law enforcement service
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Fire danger-
excessive build up of brush understory
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Doe Mill Road
needs improvement
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Litter and
trash along highway 32
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Additional
traffic and other impacts to the Forest Ranch
community if a connection/evacuation route from
the Paradise area is made
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Unsightly
trailer parks
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Fiscalization
of land use / need to maintain tax base for
funding of needed county services
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Introduction
of invasive non-native plant species
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Recycling
program
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Need to
balance water use between residential and
agricultural uses
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Need an
accurate migratory deer herd plan
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Need better
utility service / communications
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Need flexible
well drilling policy if well runs dry and needs
to become deeper- New well should not be
required.
Vision
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Protect and
enhance the community as it exists today
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Curbside
Recycling
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Carbon neutral
development
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Sustainable
development
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