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rdifalco

Butte County Planning Commission backs smaller setbacks between houses and orchards - 0 views

www.orovillemr.com/...ks-between-houses-and-orchards

BEC Butte County pesticides Planning Commission agriculture

shared by rdifalco on 18 Dec 15 - No Cached
  • Oroville >> The Butte County Planning Commission has recommended changes to how close new houses may get to orchards and vineyards within residentially zoned areas.
  • The commission voted 4-1 last week to approve clarifying that a 300-foot buffer between agriculture and houses applies to agriculturally zoned lands. In residential areas, the commission backed a minimum 25-foot setback between houses and orchards or vineyards, although the policy calls for houses to located as far away as practicable.
  • Robin DiFalco of the Butte Environmental Council said she generally supported the final revisions. She backed having public hearings and making setbacks be as great as is practicable, which may reduce land use conflicts and was good land use policy.
rdifalco

Chico City Council: Arts Commission, Sustainability Task Force will continue - Chico En... - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...sion-sustainability-task-force

BEC chico sustainability climate action plan

shared by rdifalco on 19 Sep 13 - No Cached
  • CHICO — The Arts Commission and Sustainability Task Force will continue as they are, at least for now, the Chico City Council decided last week. As the city faces budget-induced staffing challenges, the council is looking closer at its committees and commissions to find efficiencies while still meeting the city's and public's needs. Several councilors said the Sustainability Task Force, which was put on hold for restructuring earlier this year, is necessary to complete the Climate Action Plan, as required by the General Plan.
  • Mark Stemen of the Butte Environmental Council said the Sustainability Task Force is the best way to complete a climate action plan that identifies necessary action and engages the community. He noted the council promised to address climate change in 2006, with 25 percent target reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. "To be clear, our efforts so far have not reduced greenhouse production levels in Chico; they have simply slowed the rate of increase," he said. "As a community, we are still producing more and more greenhouse gases each and every year."
rdifalco

Chico News & Review - Haps on the CAP - Feature Story - Local Stories - April 17, 2014 - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

chico BEC climate action plan sustainability task force

shared by rdifalco on 17 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • The city hasn’t forgotten about its Climate Action Plan
  • This article was published on 04.17.14.
  • In November 2012, the Chico City Council put its official stamp on sustainability by adopting a municipal Climate Action Plan. The blueprint, honed by the city’s Sustainability Task Force, laid out a two-stage approach for addressing the impacts of climate change and meeting greenhouse-gas standards established by the state.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • STF and CAP have become nearly synonymous acronyms at the direction of City Council, which cut the size of the task force in half—to seven members, officially appointed—and focused the panel on implementing the plan, versus exploring sustainability in general.
  • Mark Stemen, chair of the reincarnated STF, says the city is “on the right track now, and we are making progress” but, in a broader sense, sees the process as “a good five years behind. We lost some momentum; we also lost the opportunity when there was more staff to get things done. But that’s water under the bridge—or carbon in the air, unfortunately.”
  • Flash forward six months and … Pause. Budget woes led to restructuring of city staff. At the same time, the council opted to reconfigure the Sustainability Task Force; the STF wouldn’t meet again until December 2013.
  • A tangible display of that impetus is a joint session of the Planning Commission and the STF next month. Uniting the committees means the STF “is getting more integrated into city processes,” Stemen said, and also “is getting the Climate Action Plan in front of the people who implement the [2030] General Plan.” That is particularly significant for Phase II, which has a series of goals related to construction.
  • solar panels on city structures, which produced 2.2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in the preceding 12 months and 16 million kwh total. Three years ago, aided by grants, the city installed 1,200 LED streetlights that have translated into annual savings of approximately $67,800 in electrical costs plus $6,000 to $7,000 in maintenance costs, according to city staff.
  • Instead of commissioning another full inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, the city will extrapolate numbers based on readily available information: natural gas usage, electricity usage, waste diversion and vehicle fuel usage.
  • “If we’re not moving in the direction of reducing those emissions, then we’re directly working against our own interests.”
dkeeley1

The Big Scrap - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

BEC chico Butte County Community move the junkyard

shared by dkeeley1 on 10 Mar 16 - No Cached
  • The activist group Move the Junkyard was formed in January 2015, shortly after the City Council directed planning department staff to develop a process for CSM to stay in south Chico. The group is allied with the Butte Environmental Council, which has long supported the Chapman/Mulberry Neighborhood Plan and CSM’s amortization.
  • During an interview several days prior to the Planning Commission’s meeting, Move the Junkyard member Ory and Mark Stemen, chairman of BEC’s board of directors, were certain the commission would reject CSM’s new development agreement. “I think CSM has done a very effective job playing on heartstrings and emotional issues that affect [city] councils, but I think they’ll come up against the Planning Commission and see that’s not what it’s about,” Stemen said.
  • aying on heartstrings and emotional issues that affect [city] councils, but I think they’ll come up against the Planning Commission and see that’s not what it’s about,” Stemen said
becnews

Butte County Planning Commission discusses buffers between houses, land used for agricu... - 1 views

www.chicoer.com/...uses-land-used-for-agriculture

BEC Chico Butte County Oroville Community agriculture

shared by becnews on 29 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • Oroville >> The Butte County Planning Commission has delayed making a recommendation on altering how a 300-foot agricultural buffer applies in residential areas.
  • The county’s current rules call for the agricultural buffer to apply next to properties with agricultural use, which may include properties zoned as residential. The proposal would limit this buffer to development next to agriculturally zoned properties, although an amendment would allow people to use their residential, commercial and industrial properties an acre or larger for farming and grazing.
  • John Scott said the proposal was a violation of the public’s trust as eliminating the buffer could expose residents to sprayed pesticides that drift onto their properties. He said the Development Services Department was working to bring in money from development at the risk of others. “Inappropriate development should not drive this ordinance,” Scott said.
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  • Robin DiFalco of the Butte Environmental Council said the changes don’t alter the green line, but increases the potential of development on the farming side. “It is in fact directly contrary to the goals of the General Plan and the green line,” DiFalco said.
rdifalco

Final draft of Climate Action Plan gets Chico council's vote of approval - Chico Enterp... - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...ction-plan-gets-chico-councils

climate action plan CAP Chico sustainability emissions GHG BEC community

shared by rdifalco on 08 Nov 12 - No Cached
  • councilors voted 5-2 to approve a final draft of the Climate Action Plan
  • Sustainability Task Force and the Chico State University Institute of Sustainable Development
  • goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 2005 levels in the next eight years.
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  • One of those clapping was Mark Stemen, representing the Butte Environmental Council. In public comment, he told the board the plan is well-written and has all the components to be successful.
  • the plan has been updated by staff, it has gone before the Sustainability Task Force, and been reviewed by the Planning Commission.
ndcarter

Groundwater report, plans on table at Water Commission Wednesday - 1 views

www.orovillemr.com/...-at-water-commission-wednesday

shared by ndcarter on 07 Sep 16 - No Cached
  • Butte County is working with other water leaders in the county toward the state-mandated Sustainable Groundwater Management planning effort, http://www.water.ca.gov/groundwater/sgm. This involves agencies that manage water creating plans that maintain water supply and water quality.
  • So far, several water agencies that provide surface water within the county have attended meetings, with a goal of identifying who will govern which areas of the groundwater basins. Mapping out jurisdictions needs to be finished by June of next year.
  • What will happen with private pumpers in Butte County is still up for discussion. At a recent GSA meeting, Carol Perkins from the Butte Environmental Council, told the Enterprise-Record that her groups hoped private pumpers would be given an active role.
rdifalco

PG&E proposes removal of 33 trees in Chico - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...s-removal-of-33-trees-in-chico

BEC trees chico removal PG&E

shared by rdifalco on 02 Sep 15 - No Cached
  • Chico >> PG&E intends to remove 33 trees, all on private property, as a safety measure in south Chico, but questioning by the public and the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission shed light on the process and reasoning. At a Monday forum held at the Park Commission’s meeting, PG&E representatives explained why the removals were necessary
  • PG&E shared a list of about 86 trees that were near the pipeline, but after a tree-by-tree inspection including city staff, nearby residents and representatives of Butte Environmental Council, acknowledged that all but 33 trees could stay but be watched.
  • Robyn DiFalco of BEC asked the Park Commission to “... make sure that every tree removed is justified and asked for another meeting on PG&E’s replacement plan. Commissioners wanted to know about incidences of pipe leaks in Chico, but Wilson and other PG&E representatives there Monday did not have that information. They also wanted to know more about what the access actually meant, and could there be negotiations on the list of trees to be removed.
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  • Attorney Richard Harriman of Chico said everything should be written into an agreement, and Emily Alma asked the Park Commission to advocate for the trees.
rdifalco

25 Chico trees approved for removal - Chico Enterprise Record - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...5-chico-trees-approved-removal

BEC chico trees

shared by rdifalco on 01 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • Residents asked the city to remove 25 sycamores of different varieties, but considered a nuisance and safety hazard.
  • Commissioner Mark Herrera asked the commission to use this situation as a stand to call for an urban forester to be hired by the city. His motion called for no further discussion of tree-related items until an urban forester was on staff. It has been over a year since the city had an urban forester.
  • While Herrera's motion failed, it prompted the Park Commission's discussion about how important the urban forester is to the city, tree-related permits and what's happening to Chico's urban forest. To punctuate his stance, Herrera left the council chambers at that point. Before leaving, he apologized to the applying residents for delaying their matter, but stressed the urban forest's significance to the community.
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  • The discussion also prompted Mark Stemen, chair of the city's Sustainability Task Force, to again criticize the Park Commission for failing to move forward on the Urban Forest Management Plan, which he said is basically done, but needs the commission's stamp of approval. He said this discussion might not have happened if the plan had been in place.
rdifalco

Park Commission looks at Caper Acres, trees - Chico Enterprise Record - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...ion-looks-at-caper-acres-trees

BEC chico park Bidwell Park trees

shared by rdifalco on 26 Aug 14 - No Cached
  • In addition, the Butte Environmental Council is asking for permission for an oak planting project in upper park. The four-year plan calls for the planting of oaks, the engagement of community and protection for previously planned oak trees. BEC has acquired the funding to make the project possible.
rdifalco

On the chopping block - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

BEC Chico trees Community PG&E

shared by rdifalco on 27 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • rdifalco on 27 Oct 15
     
    PG&E meets the public, offers to replace trees slated for removal along pipeline Last February, tree advocates' attempts to save several century-old sycamores from PG&E chainsaws ended in a tense, days-long standoff, police intervention and the eventual removal of the stately giants from where they stood outside of the Oroville Cemetery. It also caused a public relations nightmare for PG&E and its Pipeline Pathways project, the energy company's effort to remove trees, vegetation and structures along 6,750 miles of natural gas pipelines throughout the state for safety, maintenance and access purposes. With similar work planned to remove 33 trees from a mile-long swath in south Chico near Comanche Creek, PG&E is hoping to avoid troubles like those in Oroville, and sent a representative to the city's Bidwell Park and Playground Commission meeting on Monday (Aug. 31) to hear public comment and make an offer to mitigate the loss of the trees. BEC Executive Director Robyn DiFalco was the first person to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting. She lauded the power company for reaching out and offering to plant replacements, but also urged caution as the city moves forward.
dnbaxter

Chico City Council Making Changes - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

Community Chico Environmentalism Sustainable Future BEC City Council Climate Action Committee

shared by dnbaxter on 30 Sep 19 - No Cached
  • dnbaxter on 30 Sep 19
     
    The council adopted an ordinance to create a Climate Action Commission and also chose to reconsider its usage of pesticides. The commission will be made up of seven council-appointed members, whose main task will be to advise the council on how to best implement the city's Climate Action Plan (CAP). Mark Stemen, the board chair for BEC said, "A lot of people are concerned about climate change and they feel like there's nothing that can be done," he said. "Now, those concerns … have a place and a process to be realized. So we can get to 100 percent renewable energy, we can get to a livable planet."
becnews

Letter: Proposed ag buffer change bad for public well-being - 1 views

www.chicoer.com/...ange-bad-for-public-well-being

letter BEC Chico agriculture public Community

shared by becnews on 29 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • I can not believe that the Butte County Department of Development Services has the audacity to come up with a plan to reduce the agricultural buffer in Butte County, and it is not just along the greenline. The proposed ordinance will allow developers to be able to ask for a reduction to the proposed agricultural setback from farming operations to as little as 25 feet.The long standing 300-foot buffer is there for a reason. It is the minimum setback that hopefully will protect the public’s health and well-being. This proposed ordinance is so outrageous that it prohibits and exempts the homeowners affected from even being able to sue for damages if they are harmed. Where are the Butte County department heads of Public Health and Services that are paid to protect and serve the health and well-being of the citizens of Butte County? They must speak out to protect the people of Butte County for generations to come.This proposed ordinance goes before the Butte County Planning Commission at 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 22.This proposed ordinance is a violation of the ‘public trust doctrine’.— John Scott, Butte Valley
rdifalco

Letter: County should act where state fails on fracking - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...-where-state-fails-on-fracking

Butte County SB4 fracking water

shared by rdifalco on 22 Dec 14 - No Cached
  • County should act where state fails on frackingPlease know that DOGGR is not doggedly watching over your safety.DOGGR stands for the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources — part of California’s Conservation Department.
  • It is a shame that last week’s letter to the editor — about SB 4 assuring the safety of fracking — is incorrect. Instead, analysis of Senate Bill 4, Well Stimulation Treatment Regulations, shows that even the most recent revisions (in October) are inadequate.
  • The newer SB4 has weaker reporting requirements regarding earthquake activity tested in the vicinity of fracking. DOGGR now states that earthquakes measuring less than 2.7 are irrelevant. Yet available research shows otherwise.Although the Butte County Planning Commission did not have specific recommendations regarding a ban at its Dec. 11 meeting, we are hopeful that the Board of Supervisors will soon ban fracking. Such an ounce of prevention can prevent a mountain of problems affecting our farming, our health, and the quantity and quality of our ground and surface waters — so vital to Butte County’s economic and people’s well-being. — Grace M. Marvin, Chico
rdifalco

Letter: Butte County supervisors must act on fracking ban - 1 views

www.chicoer.com/...isors-must-act-on-fracking-ban

BEC fracking Butte County water

shared by rdifalco on 02 Feb 15 - No Cached
  • Butte County supervisors must act on fracking banThousands of Butte County citizens joined members of Frack-free Butte County, Butte Environmental Council and the Sierra Club to demonstrate our desire for a ban against fracking in our petition to the county last year.
  • Since then, numerous health, water, air, disposal, climate, transport, soil, seismic and other problems with fracking were described in letters to the editor. In April, the Butte County Board of Supervisors asked the Planning Commission staff to develop a ban; it was tighter than our own ban. Now the time has arrived for the board to sign onto the staff’s excellent ban.
ndcarter

Interest group being formed for Butte County oak ordinance - 0 views

www.orovillemr.com/...for-butte-county-oak-ordinance

shared by ndcarter on 28 Dec 17 - No Cached
  • The proposed oak woodland mitigation ordinance, created by the county, made its way through the first workshop of the Butte County Planning Commission last week.
  • Natalie Carter of Butte Environmental Council attended the workshop.
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