Chico Planning Commission backs Title 19 code amendments, asks staff to study wider parking reductions

The Chico Planning Commission on March 6, 2025, voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council adopt an ordinance amending Title 19 of the Chico Municipal Code to implement a "Residential Readiness" package of land‑use changes and clarifications. Later in the meeting the commission voted 5–1 to direct staff to include study of wider reductions or elimination of minimum parking requirements in a Phase 3 follow‑up to the code amendments.

The amendments are intended to align Chico’s zoning code with several recent state laws and the city’s 2022 housing element, streamline permitting, and expand options for small‑scale and affordable housing. Commissioners discussed changes ranging from new standards for low‑barrier navigation centers and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to parking, drive‑through lane widths and landscape requirements.

City planner Kelly Murphy said the package is the second phase of a multipart Residential Readiness Program meant to "streamline existing permit processes, reduce barriers for residential development, and facilitate housing production." Murphy told commissioners that converting some uses from conditional (use permit) review to principally permitted uses would reduce costs for applicants: "A use permit runs around $10,000 to $11,000 right now. So that would reduce the cost significantly," Murphy said.

The ordinance language updates several land‑use tables (identified in the staff report as chapters 19.42, 19.404 and 19.46) and adds a new application section (19.76080) to create a land‑use category and procedures for low‑barrier navigation centers, consistent with Assembly Bill 101 and housing element Action 8.12. The staff report also proposes ADU code changes to reflect recent state laws described in the report as "SB 1211," "AB 1033," "AB 976" and "AB 1332," and notes the city’s preapproved ADU program, launched in 2020, as an existing local tool to speed ADU permitting.

Commissioners scrutinized several specific changes. The staff recommendation proposed removing an antiquated definition and land‑use category for "rooming and boarding houses;" a commissioner asked to retain that option in the code as a possible future affordability tool. The commission amended the motion on the floor to retain boarding/rooming houses in the code and to insert the word "Chico" into a reference to formation of a maintenance district (proposed shorthand "CMD"), then voted to recommend the amended package to the City Council.

Other technical changes discussed included reducing minimum drive‑through lane width in the code from 12 feet to a 10‑foot minimum for straight segments while keeping wider radii at corners, lowering a landscape requirement in the IOMU zoning district from 15% to 10% (with questions about whether to make that a straightforward change or keep a review path), and removing a code section that required roof‑mounted solar panels to match roof slope. Staff told commissioners the proposed Title 19 amendments are exempt from further California Environmental Quality Act review under CEQA section 15061 and that any future individual projects would be reviewed for CEQA compliance as needed.

Public comment focused largely on parking policy. Resident Dave Drewett urged the commission to go further than the current package and consider eliminating minimum parking requirements citywide, arguing that parking mandates increase housing costs and citing Buffalo, N.Y., which he said eliminated minimum parking requirements in 2017 and saw a 24% rise in residential development applications in three years. "Minimum parking requirements are perhaps the most powerful anti‑housing policy that's in our zoning code," Drewett said.

Commissioners responded that a broader parking policy change would require additional public notice and study. After discussion, the commission voted 5–1 to reopen the meeting briefly and add to the work plan a Phase 3 review that would specifically consider reductions or elimination of parking mandates; Commissioner Wolf cast the lone no vote on that direction.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to adopt Resolution 25‑03 recommending City Council adopt the Title 19 amendments as modified (retain boarding/rooming houses and insert "Chico" into maintenance district language): passed unanimously (6–0). Recorded ayes: Commissioner Birkhoff Kauffman; Commissioner Laffins; Commissioner Sharp; Commissioner Wall; Commissioner Wolf; Vice Chair Scarpa. Chair Scott was absent. - Motion to direct staff to include study of broader parking‑requirement reductions or elimination in Phase 3 of the Residential Readiness Program: passed 5–1. Commissioner Wolf voted no; the other five commissioners voted yes.

The commission’s recommendation now goes to the City Council for consideration. Staff indicated any future ordinance brought to council would include the amendments approved by the commission and that separate, more detailed study materials would be prepared if the city proceeds with a Phase 3 parking review. The commission’s next regular meeting was announced as April 3, 2025.