Council authorizes mayor to send response to Shasta County Grand Jury on Court Hill subdivision

The Redding City Council authorized the mayor to sign and send the city's response to the Shasta County Grand Jury report on the Court Hill Subdivision development after a staff presentation outlining the city’s actions and planned steps.

Assistant City Manager Bade told the council the grand jury report, issued May 29, 2025, concerned the city’s use of an approximately $22.6 million Community Development Block Grant — Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) award accepted by the council in October 2022 to develop about 112 acres for single-family, for-sale workforce housing. The report included four findings and three recommendations; Bade said staff agreed with two findings and partially disagreed with two others. “The report stems from the city's receipt of a Community Development Block Grant, Disaster recovery grant, in the amount of approximately $22,600,000,” Bade said.

Bade reviewed outreach and project steps: two public outreach meetings held in November 2024 and January 2025, a March 2025 project tour, maintenance of a project webpage, anticipated submission of traffic and evacuation comments to consultants this week, completion of environmental studies by August and a planned Planning Commission consideration of the tentative subdivision map in October.

After the presentation, a council member moved to authorize the mayor to sign and send the drafted response letter; a second was recorded and the motion passed.

City staff said the response letter, included in the council packet, explains where staff agreed and disagreed with the grand jury’s findings and describes planned or completed public outreach and analysis steps. Staff also said they would develop public education programming on land-use participation by the end of the calendar year.

No ordinance or project approval was made at this meeting; the action authorized submittal of the city's formal response to the grand jury.