Planning Commission approves updated CEQA guidelines, recommends Magalia rezones and zoning-code changes; hears housing progress report

Butte County Planning Commission members on Feb. 27 voted to approve an updated set of county Environmental Review Guidelines, recommended a General Plan amendment and zoning changes in Magalia that include redesignating a parcel as public for park use, and recommended amendments to the county zoning code to allow golf-ball safety nets. The commission also received the county’s General Plan and Housing Element annual progress reports for calendar year 2024 as an informational item.

The updated Environmental Review Guidelines were presented by Roland Hickel, senior planner in the Department of Development Services. Hickel said the last comprehensive update dated to 1996 and staff revised the guidelines to reflect statutory and procedural changes, clarify submittal requirements and project descriptions, add early consultation steps including consultation with Native American tribes, and update consultant selection and contract administration procedures. Hickel said the draft also clarifies the county’s role as lead agency for certain special districts and that staff finds the update exempt from CEQA under a class-based and common-sense exemption. "The last significant revision was back in 1996," Hickel said.

A public speaker, John Snowberger of the Upper Ridge Community Council, urged earlier community outreach on developments and cited the Bangor-Laporte solar project as an example where earlier consultation would have reduced appeals. Another commenter who identified himself as a county public-works representative said the updated guidelines give other departments more flexibility to prepare notices of exemption and other CEQA documents when required for grants such as FEMA funding related to Camp Fire recovery.

The commission voted to find the guidelines exempt from CEQA and recommend approval to the Board of Supervisors. The motion as recorded in the minutes directs that the action be memorialized for the board; the transcript does not list individual vote tallies by name for this item.

On the Magalia General Plan amendment and rezoning (GPA 23-2 / REZ 23-2), staff described two study areas: one in Magalia Center (near Lake Ridge Circle east of Skyway) and one in Old Magalia at Old Skyway and Indian Drive. Roland Hickel said the change implements strategies from the Upper Ridge Community Plan intended to increase residential density and provide a mix of housing types. The proposed General Plan amendment would redesignate 4.39 acres off Lake Ridge Circle from office/retail to mixed use; staff said the certified General Plan EIR previously addressed much of the environmental review and that an addendum found no new impacts. Hickel said the added 4.39 acres could allow up to 87 residential units depending on subzone and site constraints.

Christie Sweeney of the Paradise Recreation and Park District told the commission the district holds $5,200,000 in state grant funding to develop the Lake Ridge Circle property into a park and asked that the parcel owned or leased by the district be redesignated and rezoned public to avoid additional permitting hurdles. "Keeping [the parcel] mixed use would introduce unnecessary permitting hurdles for facilities that are already planned to serve the public," Sweeney said. Al McGrath, chair of the Paradise Recreation and Park District board, confirmed the district is nearing bid solicitation and supports the staff recommendation.

The commission moved to adopt findings and recommend Board of Supervisors approval of the addendum and the General Plan amendment and zone changes, including reclassifying parcel 66340-005 as public at the request of the park district and staff. The transcript records a voice vote that resulted in approval; the meeting record states the motion passed 3–1.

The commission next considered a county-initiated zoning-code amendment (CCA 25-001) to add standards and an administrative-permit path for "golf ball safety nets" in the walls-and-fences section of the Butte County Zoning Ordinance. Mark Michellena (presented in the packet as Development Services) said the new subsection would define golf-ball safety nets, require a professional golf-ball impact analysis to determine height (which could exceed 100 feet), and establish permitting, materials, maintenance and notification procedures (for example, notifying aerial applicators when nets abut agricultural zones). The amendment is intended to provide a permitable option where the current code contains no adequate standard for large protective nets.

Affected homeowner John Ross spoke in support, saying the net was needed "to protect my family and my property" and that his homeowners association had unanimously supported the request. The commission voted to recommend the zoning-code amendments to the Board of Supervisors and to find the project exempt from CEQA per County CEQA procedures (section 15.303), as staff recommended. The transcript includes a recorded motion and a voice vote in favor; individual vote names and counts are not specified in the transcript for this item.

Finally, Mark Metcilena (Development Services) presented the county’s General Plan and Housing Element Annual Progress Reports for 2024, a state-required informational filing to the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Metcilena reported 71 brand-new housing units were built in unincorporated Butte County in 2024; staff noted these counts exclude rebuilds of units destroyed in the Camp Fire because state reporting counts only newly constructed units for RHNA purposes. The report shows the county remains short of its RHNA allocation for very-low- and low-income categories; Metcilena said one new 61-unit affordable-housing application had been lodged and staff hoped it would add very-low and low units to future totals.

No formal action was required on the annual reports; staff will forward the informational item and the commission’s recommendations on the other matters to the Board of Supervisors.

Ending: The commission completed consent items and minutes, adjourned at 9:47 a.m., and scheduled transmittal of approved recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for consideration at a future meeting.