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KEN DEVOL, ANCHOR:
The Chico City Council this week (Sept. 19) unanimously approved the newest plan to advance the city’s housing and living conditions over the next several years. That’s after months of revisions to better comply with state requirements. NSPR’s Erik Adams reports.
ERIK ADAMS, REPORTER:
The 2022 to 2030 Housing Element is an eight-year plan that examines the city’s housing issues and finds ways to address them.
Some actions laid out in the new plan include development of affordable housing, recreational improvements and attention to economic opportunities for residents.
Chico resident Julian Zener hopes the city sticks to its word, particularly with its affordable housing goals.
ZENER: “I’m impressed with the Housing Element, with a caveat that the last Housing Element didn’t move the needle in the direction that it should.”
Just before the meeting, dozens gathered to protest Valley’s Edge, a controversial housing plan in southeast Chico that’s facing a referendum vote in 2024.
The demonstration included theatrical storytelling using signs, props and effigies to portray Mother Earth at odds with a scowling land developer.
Nearby were counterprotesters, like contractor Brandon Slater. He feels the criticism of Valley’s Edge may discourage investors from helping Chico’s growth.
SLATER: “I think that’s just the beginning of the end and I think it’d be really detrimental to our community.”
Opponents of the development cite negative environmental impacts, additional traffic and neglect of affordable housing goals as some reasons they’re against it.
