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Board approves architect contract to scope environmental review for proposed 90-acre reentry campus after residents raise safety, water and habitat concerns
Summary
After extended public comment from River Ranch and nearby residents, the board approved a contract with Nichols Merrill Blick & Roseto to provide architecture/engineering input needed to scope an Environmental Impact Report for a proposed reentry/behavioral health campus on a 90-acre site.
The Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on Nov. 18 to hire Nichols Merrill Blick & Roseto to supply architectural and engineering support needed to define the scope of an Environmental Impact Report for a proposed behavioral health/reentry campus on a 90-acre parcel near River Ranch.
Residents of the River Ranch subdivision told the board they learned of the proposal only recently and raised repeated concerns about groundwater, traffic, endangered-species habitat, lighting, noise and property values. "This project threatens a quiet enjoyment residents are entitled to," said one River Ranch resident during public comment, outlining worries about wells and wells' contamination.
Troy Bartlett, the county's director of public works, told the board the contract is not a design agreement but a technical step required by the EIR process. "The purpose of this contract is to supplement our environmental review process," Bartlett said. He explained architects are needed to provide general schematics, facility sizes, layouts and utility demand estimates so the EIR team can evaluate traffic, sewer, water and species impacts and prepare a notice of preparation and associated public-comment periods.
Bartlett described the sequence: tribal notification in December, a notice of preparation in January with a 30-day comment window and a later 60-day public comment period on a draft EIR, and he said a full EIR is likely given the project's scale. "We can't do that notice of preparation without the architect telling us a general idea of what it's going to look like," he said.
Chair Scribe emphasized that the item before the board was the contract language and scope; the board cannot decide land use at this meeting. Several supervisors urged private follow-up meetings with affected neighbors; the chair committed to meet with the sheriff and affected supervisors after the meeting. After discussion the board approved the contract to proceed with EIR-support work.
Next steps: staff said executing the contract will allow preparation of the notice of preparation and progression through the state-mandated EIR milestones, after which there will be multiple formal public comment opportunities and studies of alternatives.
