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Butte County General
Plan 2030 Community Meeting Summary
The
Butte County General Plan 2030 Community
Workshop for Richvale was held on the
morning of June 5, 2007 at the Richvale
Café, 5285 Midway, Richvale. 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 consideration of land use
changes by the General Plan 2030 process.
About 25 people attended the full
presentation by Tim Snellings, Director and
Pete Calarco, Assistant Director. Also in
attendance were Citizens Advisory Committee
members Bruce McClintock and Sue Seropian.
The following summarizes the assets and
issues discussed at this meeting:
Assets
Richvale is proud to be a small community
that serves as a focal point for one of the
largest food producing areas in Butte
County. It is centrally located to the
Oroville, Chico and Gridley areas. The
community has an agricultural history with
the settlement of Richvale in the early
1900’s. People came to this area with
thoughts of producing wheat or other similar
grain crops. They quickly found out that
this was not land that could produce what
they were used to farming. What initially
seemed to be unproductive agricultural land
to these initial residents turned out to be
the right conditions for producing rice; a
crop and farming method that was unfamiliar
to them. Their determination proved to be
the solution for a problem. That problem
turned out to be a great setting for a major
rice producing area in the region.
The
ability to work together to solve problems
is still a large part of the community
identity in addition to appreciating farm
life, open space and community pride.
Additional assets mentioned were the
Volunteer Fire Station, Elementary School
(K-8), a Parks and Recreation District,
Sewer District, the Richvale Community
Church and the Richvale Café. Productive
businesses, the Richvale Airport and a
relatively low crime rate were also included
as assets.
Issues
The
word “Mosquitoes”, the first comment in
regards to issues, was met with laughter.
This was followed with drainage and
irrigation listed as key concerns. The
maintenance of drainage and irrigation
facilities can be constrained by compliance
with state and federal regulations, in
particular, endangered species and related
regulation. A small-school atmosphere is
greatly appreciated, but at 60 students, it
is difficult to compete and operate. Water
quality for both domestic water and
irrigation water is critical to the
community and agricultural production.
Compliance of the sewer treatment facility
with the CA State Regional Water Quality
Control Board, abandoned vehicles, illegal
dumping and dilapidated properties were also
a concern. Road conditions, the narrow
width of Midway and dangerous driving
behavior on rural roads were also included
as concerns.
Future/Vision
The
future vision for the community would be to
retain the small community feel with no
residential expansion into productive
agricultural lands. The general plan
policies should recognize the importance of
agriculture including the habitat that
farming provides. Promote the community and
agriculture through agricultural tourism.
Importance of retaining agricultural
industry by retaining transportation routes
for trucks and the potential for rail
usage. Focus on the need for a skilled and
educated workforce, ability of agricultural
industry to continue to grow to serve the
community and county while recognizing
operation demands such as truck traffic,
noise and 24-hour operation. Establish land
use classifications and zoning that
recognizes the existing agricultural
processing/industry. Ensure capacity of
sanitation district to serve agricultural
processing in the future.
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 and
additional meetings with the Citizens
Advisory Committee, Planning Commission, and
Board of Supervisors.
Provide the detailed list of Community
Assets, Issues and Change Areas Here:
Assets:
- Open Space, Sea
of Green
- Community Pride
- Responsible
people
- Farm Life
- Work together to
solve problems
- Hunting Area
- Volunteer Fire
Department
- Sewer System
- Low Crime Rates
- Productive
Businesses
- Good Elementary
School (K-8)
- Central Location
to Oroville, Chico and Gridley
- Richvale Airport
- Limited
Government
- Parks and
Recreation District
- Richvale Parents
Association
- Food Production
- DSL Access
- Richvale
Community Church
- Richvale Café
Issues:
- Mosquitoes
- Drainage and
Maintenance
- Irrigation and
water Quality & Quantity and the issue
of Regulations
- Cherokee Channel
Flood Control (Fish and Game
restrictions)
- Sewer System –
Cease Desist order (DWR)
- Run Down property
– absenteeism and appearance
- Small School
atmosphere is appreciated but it is
difficult to stay competitive (60
students)
- Endangered
Species – affect on farming practices
and flood control
- Junk and illegal
dumping, abandoned vehicles
- Need to publicize
code enforcement regarding illegal
dumping
- Midway is too
narrow for the traffic volume
- Rural Roads –
driver behavior, for example, passing on
the right or on double solid lines,
speeding, etc.
- Need more passing
lanes
- Road maintenance
- Poor cell phone
coverage
Vision:
- Recognize Ag
importance - this includes the habitat
that farming provides
- Protection of
Food Producing properties and the
alternative benefits of Ag such as open
space, cleaning air (co2) and habitat
- Locally Grown
products with controls
- Ag Tourism – we
need to show off our products and
practices
- Endangered
Species Act
- Retain
transportation for Trucks and future
potential of rail usage for Ag products
- Workforce – need
educated and skilled workforces
- Ability of Ag
industry/commercial to continue and grow
to serve the community and county, be a
good neighbor in a residential community
while recognizing operation demands such
as truck traffic, noise and 24-hour
operation
- Land Use
classifications and zoning that
recognize existing Ag
processing/industry
- Capacity of
sanitation district to serve Ag
processing
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