Chico forum tackles infill development amid rising housing demand, environmental concerns

CHICO, Calif. — The Chico Green City Coalition and Smart Growth Advocates hosted a community forum Thursday night to discuss the future of the city’s development, focusing on housing availability, affordability, and environmental concerns.

“We need to reduce sprawl and work towards infill,” said Susan Tchudi, co-founder of Smart Growth Advocates.

RELATED | Valley’s Edge development resurfaces amid legal claim against City of Chico

The Butte County Association of Governments reports Chico’s population as grown nearly 2% from 2023 to 2024. The forum highlighted continued growth, resulting in the need for additional housing options.

Representatives from Smart Growth Advocates emphasized the importance of considering factors such as wildfires, floods, and the natural environment, while addressing the housing needs of moderate to low-income families.

“The meeting, in a lot of ways, underlined the things that we talked about originally about Valley’s Edge, but we’re applying it much more broadly,” said Tchudi. “We are still arguing that we need to reduce sprawl and work toward infill.”

Tchudi noted potential infill development sites in Chico, including Park Avenue, the old Kmart, and areas on the Esplanade and Mangrove. She stressed the need to explore development outside of wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas before considering expansion in fire-prone areas.

“We believe before we ever think of going outside the Green Line or into the eastern foothills, we need to see what we can do within the City of Chico,” Tchudi said.

Tchudi also mentioned the need to reconsider parking requirements to facilitate infill development.

“One of the things that we have to look at and this is happening is that we get rid of some of the parking requirements that people need to fulfill in order to build. You know, you have to have X number of parking spaces for X number of people. And those parking spaces aren’t always needed, especially if we have infill areas where people can take public transit, walk, or take their bicycles,” Tchudi said.

The forum also revisited the Valley’s Edge development, which has been in the spotlight following a legal claim against the city for allegedly violating the Housing Crisis Act of 2019. The claim was revealed just short of a year after a referendum halted the project’s development.

The project’s future remains uncertain, but concerns about fire danger and environmental impact persist.

“After that year is up, then they get to come back with another proposal. So, yeah, yeah, they could come back. There are members of Smart Growth Advocates who are absolutely opposed to building in that area because of the fire danger, the danger of water that will go into Butte Creek and the sufficiency of water given that they’ll be drawing on the Tuscan Water District,” explained Tchudi.

Chico City Councilmember Addison Winslow attended the forum, where Tchudi says he noted the potential consequences if the city fails to approve a development plan.

“If we don’t approve something for the city, then it will go to the county,” she said. “It’s likely that the county would allow 20-acre ranchets or 10-acre or 5.5-acre.”

Tchudi emphasized the importance of environmentally responsible development, recognizing the need to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“40% of our plants might go extinct. 40% of our insects might go extinct and people say ‘What’s one little insect, what’s one little bird?’ We all depend on one another and we’re all at risk when one thing goes extinct because it’s all connected. I think housing is super important. We need to do it, we need to get people in homes. But I think that we are in a serious situation with climate change. We need to really step up in order to meet our interim commitment for being net zero by 2045,” she said.

The Green City Coalition hosts workshops in Chico to educate citizens on writing letters and providing feedback to elected officials, something Tchudi says will be pivotal as the city grows.

“We’re going to keep going forward,” Tchudi said. “We would like to do more sessions like this where we can educate the public about emphasizing things like climate change and dangers to our environment.”

Residents interested in staying informed can subscribe to Smart Growth Advocates’ newsletter by emailing SmartGrowthChico@gmail.com. Tchudi said they are open to answering questions and engaging in community discussions outside of scheduled gatherings.