Commission Impossible

« December 2006 | Main | February 2007 »

January 31, 2007

Asian Wooly Hackberry Aphid Control 1000 Years Past Due

I mentioned in my last post that the deadline for bids for construction of Baroni Park was February 8th. A much more significant deadline facing Chico was the one for Asian Wooly Hackberry Aphid Control. As I've shown above the bid deadline for this job is February 1st, 1007 (1000 years ago). This is a problem because the Asian Wooly Hackberry Aphid is capable of causing significant damage even in much shorter time frames. It shouldn't take a millennium to get this contract filled. As an example of the potential for environmental damage see the black and white photo (above) of Golden Gate Park in S. F. that suffered from a pair of Asian Wooly Hackberry Aphids nesting there last winter.

People submitting bids should have experience destroying the Asian Wooly Hackberry Aphid as they can be somewhat dangerous. Experience in the following areas are also a plus, CEQAA (California environmental quality armored assault) heavy weapons, shaped charges, and bazookas advanced Charrette defensive operations The last Asian Wooly Hackberry Aphid control team entered Bidwell Ranch and was never heard from again. The photo below was captured on Anthony Watts' Bidwell Ranch Cam. Coming on the heels of the mutated giant fairy shrimp attack last year (July 25th, '06 entry) we can only hope the City can get this contract filled before an innocent bystander gets hurt.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (3)

January 30, 2007

Chipmunks, Turtles Invade Baroni Park

Chico's General Services Department is accepting construction bids to build Baroni Park until February 8th (see plans here). Baroni Park is located adjacent to the Doe Mill Neighborhood and Chico Creek Estates subdivisions, in southeast Chico. Baroni Park was a long time in coming. Baroni Park represents an interesting (and a tad disturbing) trend in Chico's park design process. The “Baroni Neighborhood Park and Open Space Landscaping and Lighting District” was voted in by a 55% vote, with roughly a third of the eligible parcel owners voting. While the neighbors did vote to form the district to maintain the park, they opted for the lowest cost plan.

The park itself is very nice, and I'm sure will be loved by neighbors. But Chicoans, when given the option, are opting out of infrastructure commonly found in older parks. In the case of Baroni Park amenities including a basketball court, public restrooms, and a group picnic area were decided against. In other parks across town similar votes are occurring. It's not unexpected that people would vote themselves the lowest annual cost for a park. But a lack of these facilities will cause people to travel further from their neighborhood parks for recreation opportunities and organized activities like birthday parties. This will put additional pressures on community parks and in areas of Bidwell Park, when these neighborhood parks are supposed to reduce that pressure. In my experience basketball courts are almost always in use in neighborhood parks, and something similar should be part of the most basic park. A lack of restrooms makes a park much less of a destination and significantly reduces the ability for a family to stay for extended periods of time. Things like public tennis courts have nearly disappeared from Chico. It's hard to say that there's an answer to this problem, or if it even is a problem. But I watch as people say organized recreation belongs outside of Bidwell Park, and neighborhood parks are built without facilities, and I wonder what options there will be in a decade or two. The photos at the head of this post are some of the springer toys selected for Baroni Park. Don't ask me what's up with the kid on the chipmunk. I think he had a few too many Pixie Sticks before the photo shoot. Below is the play structure that will be built. All are from Playworld Systems. The play structure below appears to have a shade awning built over part of it, which is a pretty neat idea.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)

January 29, 2007

Corporate Stranglehold On News Must End!

The Commission Impossible fan club gathered its membership together late Saturday night (see photo above). We had just been alerted that the ER would not rise to the "blog log challenge" I issued last week. We gathered together (that's me, Juanita, Chuckles, and Scott Gruendl in the photo) at the downtown plaza and burned "logs" in protest. It was perfectly safe, since the fountains could be activated if things got out of hand. And we made sure to clean the area with some industrial soap after the protest. But this leaves me with little in the way of resources to "get the word out" that the blogs aren't just tiny paragraphs printed every couple of weeks in the paper. I would consider the CNR, but they're too far right for my liking. If only there was a local, weekly, percussion based newspaper with advertising rates even I could afford! I'll have to keep looking.

Posted by Lon at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2007

What's The Plan, Stan?

Last week the Chico Area Recreation District (CARD) started the update of its Master Plan. If you read through the existing and proposed Bidwell Park Master Management Plans you'll see that CARD is expected to be the provider of Chico's recreational amenities. That philosophy has been mouthed by local government for a couple of decades, but never seems to really get implemented. I listened during the Bidwell Park Plan update meetings as "that's CARD's job" came up during discussions about recreation. It always seemed like a "punt". When I looked around nobody from CARD was there. At the time I sent an email to the CARD board and acting director saying "hey why aren't you guys here for this?", but no response. Mary Cahill (previous CARD director) had attended the citizen's advisory committee component of the meetings, but was let go from CARD about half-way through. I always wondered when the City and CARD would have a discussion about who is supposed to do what. The technical advisory committee consisting of the General Services Director, our old City Manager, and other city officials has begun meeting. I applied to be on the Citizen's Advisory Committee, which consists of about a dozen people, and was appointed to it. We met last week as well. It looks like that discussion is going to happen in the next few months, and I'm curious to see the results. The CARD plan update is being managed by the same consulting group that is working on the Bidwell Park Master Management Plan update (EDAW), although not by the same employees that worked on the Bidwell Park plan. I think I'm the only person on the citizen's panel that will have taken part in both updates. I can already see stark differences in the process. For example, the Bidwell Park citizen committee started with somebody reading a bad poem. The CARD citizen committee started with brief introductions and a statement that we'd leave by 8PM (a 2 hour meeting). Even with a year-and-a-half head start I think the CARD Master Plan could be finished before the Bidwell Park Master Management Plan update is complete. If that turns out to be the case I'm not sure what conclusions should be drawn. But I'm sure it could be related to "better, faster, smarter" in a way that's not terribly positive.

Posted by Lon at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2007

The "Blog Log" Challenge

Sometimes I meet people that recognize my name from this blog. It's happening more often lately, and it's often people that read the little blurb in the print edition of the ER (the blog log). I used to say "oh you read that, there's much more on the web site", now I just say "yeah, I'm hoping to get promoted to paper delivery soon". A new ER "blog log" is coming up. Sometimes my blog is listed, and sometimes not. I think I've become pretty good at recognizing what portion of a blog post might make it into the "log". When I wrote the section below I thought it might be printed, and it was. It's sad that so many employees lost their jobs at Enloe. Most of them won't find employment in that same line of work in Chico. Will the loss of jobs be tied back to the union negotiations that were so contentious, will it be blamed on the new management, or maybe the old management? Is it any wonder that after months of our local elitists baring their fangs at the local hospital that the institution is having financial problems? I can still hear our last Mayor calling Enloe "undemocratic" after attending the local union rally. Hopefully those condemnations are over. If we're lucky this is a fiscal re-tuning, and not the beginning of ""Atlas Shrugged"" from our city's largest employer. It had the right mix of current events and polarizing content to draw attention.

If I had to guess I'd say a recent post that might make it into the "blog log" would be the Strike post with this paragraph... Chico State professors are are threatening to strike over low pay. Apparently they found out they make less than an Enloe SEIU employee. To add insult to injury President Zingg was 1 of 23 campus leaders to get a 4% raise. To be fair, he has agreed to use the extra money to buy corn dogs for the faculty should they go on strike. Or maybe the Esplanade League related post paragraph that started with... Doesn't Larry Wahl have a requirement to speak his mind on his opinion of the "State of the City". Is a different view of Chico so outrageous or threatening to the Esplanade League that they need to orchestrate a public attack when it occurs? But I'm going to offer the ER editorial blog supervising staff a challenge. If you decide to print a portion of a post of mine in the next "blog log", I challenge you to post this...

Hello "Blog Log" reader! Are you enjoying your [insert beverage or food product here]? Great, that's good to hear. I'm glad you decided to pick up a copy of the E-R today. There's nothing quite like a good read of the local paper. All of us bloggers at www.norcalblogs.com hope you are enjoying the "blog log". Did you know that each "log" is just a small portion of 1 blog? And a blogger might write 10-20 blogs for each one printed in the paper. Just imagine how much more you could learn about Chico if you read some of these blogs! For example, I wrote 3 blogs about being afraid to leave my house, 1 on fixing a commode, and 1 on Tom Cruise as a "messiah". That was in between blogs about development impact fees, Chico's sphere of influence, and the County general plan update. If you check out www.norcalblogs.com once a week, you'll find something interesting, annoying, useful, and weird all in on the same trip. Why not check it out? In the meantime I hope you have a nice day. Lon (PS. check out Commission Impossible first, thanks)

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (4)

January 26, 2007

Strike Zone

600 Enloe Service Employee International Union (SEIU) employees are striking because 90+ union employees were released from their jobs a couple of weeks back (179 layoffs total). The strike is scheduled to last 1-day but an actual date has not been set. The hospital is suggesting that on the day of the strike everyone should avoid traffic accidents or falls from significant heights. Electrocutions are also advised against. The SEIU for their part has placed an emergency order of 2000 corn dogs with Big Al's to ensure "strikers" have a festive lunch atmosphere. Meanwhile, across town Chico State professors are are threatening to strike over low pay. Apparently they found out they make less than an Enloe SEIU employee. To add insult to injury President Zingg was 1 of 23 campus leaders to get a 4% raise. To be fair, he has agreed to use the extra money to buy corn dogs for the faculty should they go on strike. Once again the oppressed faculty of our state university system has been trod upon. Unending 6 hour days teaching remedial English to spoiled 20 year olds coupled with only 4 months off per year seems to have pushed them nearer the strike zone. In the words of a King we didn't recently celebrate "Why can't we all just get along"? The answer seems to be "money".

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)

January 24, 2007

Mr. Esplanade League, Tear Down This Wahl

Feigned outrage and orchestrated political attacks are always fun for the whole family. We recently had a spate of this activity thanks to the Esplanade League and some of its more excitable members. The Esplanade League, a local liberal political action committee, recently sent out a "call to action" to its members, and some responded. The email professed concern over Councilor Larry Wahl's less than glowing report at the recent "State of the City" radio broadcast. The following is an excerpt from the actual email...

From the Esplanade League e-mail CALL TO ACTION: The E-R and Wahl will spend the next two years finding ways to attack and criticize. We must be vigilant by letting them know we're paying attention. We encourage you to submit letters to the editor: Questioning the E-R's journalistic integrity by choosing to devote an entire article rehashing Wahl's accusations without any attempt to ask other Councilors for rebuttal Questioning the E-R's greater emphasis on Wahl's negative attacks instead of the positive vision articulated by other Councilors Letting E-R readers know that you're not buying Wahl's negativity - Wahl has no positive vision for the community besides doing favors for his developer friends

The Esplanade League's method of reinforcing a positive vision for Chico was to have members write negative letters-to-the-editor. Some of the anti-Wahl letters that I read said the following things... "What has Wahl done for Chico while serving as our representative? More funding for the library. Anything else?" ... "Tuesday night he said he was pro-Chico and anti-neighborhood. I think he means, he is pro-big business (cell phone companies and Wahl-Marts) and anti-community or neighborhood business." and... "Wahl recited a litany of complaint and fault finding, moving backward toward divisiveness and controversy." and... While reading the negative state-of-our-city address by Wahl (with little mention of the more positive message of the other council members statements) I wondered if we live in the same community." ... "Fifty years from now are people going to appreciate a subdivision or housing project built in the foothills?"

The ER editorial staff answered some of the E-league complaints about it's coverage on Sunday. The answer was pretty simple, Wahl's comments were newsworthy. Couldn't the same be said about Schwab's "Gold Line" comments, which were picked up by the ER and local television? Should people complain about the progressively skewed 11 O'clock news on KHSL? Nope. But more importantly, doesn't Larry Wahl have a requirement to speak his mind on his opinion of the "State of the City". Is a different view of Chico so outrageous or threatening to the Esplanade League that they need to orchestrate a public attack when it occurs? I didn't find Wahl's comments particularly positive, but I thought they we're honest. I'll take honesty over sugar-coating any day. And Wahl was far from a firebrand in his speaking style (hear State of City here, Wahl is at the end). Some of the Wahl-bashing letters had some reasonable and constructive recommendations embedded into the "talking points". Suggestions of more cooperation are good. Pointing out the whole sugar vs. vinegar fly-catching equation doesn't hurt. But it's hard to see how the more negative comments do anything to mitigate the Esplanade League's perception that Wahl was too negative. The Esplanade League uses the tag line"Creating a Carefully Chosen Path for Chico's Future" on its web site. If this kind of orchestrated public outrage continues they might change that to "Brow Beating a Carefully Chosen Path for Chico's Future". They can do better than that.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (13)

January 23, 2007

Payne's World...Payne's World...Payne's World...

This weekend, between dodging errant SUV's and sifting through the toy bins at "Bird in Hand", I ran across Gregg Payne's teleidoscope at Moxie's (Moxie's Café, 128 Broadway) . The teleidoscope is brass, copper, and steel, about 8" in diameter and 3' long, and looks like something that might be fixed to the forecastle of a turn-of-the-century frigate. Prior to Moxie's I last saw the teleidoscope at Gregg's shop, laying on a table where Gregg showed me it's focusing ability. I'm pretty sure the picture of the flower above is from that location. Gregg also stopped by my office to show me the focusing lens a few months back. It was literally a "crystal ball". Gregg has designed other physical art including the xylophones at Wildwood Park. It's pretty amazing to see an artist capable of transitioning between media so easily. As Chico turns from town to City it carries with it dozens of public art efforts produced by Payne, who has shown himself to be one of Chico's true independent thinkers. The teleidoscope is an interesting compilation of science and art, and is something that will intrigue most Chicoans. It's something you should see while it's publicly available. I'm not sure how much longer the teleidoscope will be at Moxie's, but it is also scheduled to be unveiled at The Jesus Center, 1297 Park Ave., on Jan. 26, as part of a public outreach for the center.

The lower image below was taken at Moxie's with my digital camera of the kids that were with us. A little more effort on my part would have created a clearer image, but it was a fun photo-op. There are some large format photographs at Moxie's that were taken through the apparatus. While Moxie's doesn't provide the best locale for viewing through the device it is a convenient place to check it out. I think the teleidoscope would be a perfect art piece for an outdoor location, like the City Plaza. Now that Gregg is no longer on the Art Commission, maybe the City would consider that idea.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (5)

January 22, 2007

Back-In Diagonal Parking Goes Awry

For the third time this month a diagonal back-up parking maneuver has gone bad in downtown Chico. Somebody attempting to back into a spot at the downtown plaza became confused by a bicycle passing in front of the car. After attempting to swerve and accelerate to miss the biker, the reverse direction of movement became disorienting and the vehicle ended up parked in the Chico Paper Company across from the plaza. A witness to the incident who would identify herself only as "The Shelster" had this to say... "I wouldn't say it was a very good back-in park job, but she nosed into the paper company pretty well. I would say add some paint striping inside the store front, and she's golden!"

Also covering the story was local news heiress and Commission Impossible Action News Team member Nicole Shanafelt. She's shown here looking smashing next to her Action 12 Lexus (Action 12 News is a subsidiary of the Commission Impossible news conglomerate) After reporting on this story, Nicole was off to cover a parallel parking problem at the Home Depot shopping area. Nobody was harmed during the creation of this parody of an actual traffic incident

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (3)

New Drive Through Art Gallery Opens Downtown

Not to be outdone by the 24 Hour Drive By Gallery on 7th Street, the Chico Paper Company opened Chico's first drive through art gallery today. The downtown opening included a parade consisting of Chico police and fire department officials. About 200 people showed up to see the first customer drive through. The art must have been good because the car shown above surveyed the art for close to an hour, before pulling out. A bystander who would only identify herself as "Hip-Hop Shelly" said "I knew something big was going on, I was in the Rice Bowl and the owners ran outside leaving everything unattended. They're normally very watchful of their customers!"

In an unrelated story, the regular Saturday Chess tournament went off without a hitch. All of the additional crowds drawn by the exciting drive through art gallery just added to the enthusiasm for the tournament. The competitors in the Saturday Chess Tournament are shown below. Nobody was harmed during the creation of this parody of an actual traffic incident

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2007

Chico Says "Super-Size" That Council

For those of you that didn't yet know it, the liberal candidates won big in the last local election. A couple of days before the vote they had a giant burger barbecue on the CSU Chico campus where they gave away free food to our starving students (I assume veggie burgers were an option). I was told they served up 400-500 tasty slabs of cow. I recently had an opportunity to look at the precinct-by-precinct votes that were forwarded to me. The CSU Chico votes are amazingly lopsided. CSU Bell Memorial Votes Gruendl - 715 Flynn - 681 Nickell - 482 Sorensen - 276 Herbert - 263 Dailey - 212 I think students must have been asking "Can I have a Gruendl Garden Burger and some Flynn Fries on the side?, Oh, and add an order of the Nickell Nachos, please."

If you expand the area to include precincts in the CSU Chico vicinity as well as the ones on campus, the trend continues. Downtown and Campus Precinct Votes Flynn - 3181 Gruendl - 3083 Nickell - 2403 Sorensen - 1525 Herbert - 1291 Dailey - 1063 Finally, as a comparison we should look at the more conservative 3rd Supervisor District to see how the rest of the city compares to those "nuts" downtown. 3rd Supervisor District Precinct Votes Flynn - 6521 Gruendl - 6118 Sorensen - 5541 Nickell - 5437 Herbert - 5095 Dailey - 4342 Hmmmm.... closer, but it looks to me like the liberal candidates also fared well out in the working class sticks. Since Gruendl and Flynn were so far ahead of the pack I might as well talk about why I think they did so well. You could chalk their victory up to sophisticated support networks, union backing, dirty pool, or a number of other things. But I think you'd be wrong. Gruendl did a good job as mayor and is likable. The fact that he takes some pretty liberal stances on defining issues wasn't lost on the populace (for example, the Enloe union comments). They seem to be OK with that, or willing to ignore it in light of his other traits. Flynn on the other hand had three things going for her... 1. Tattoos are very popular, and her yard signs were similar to tribal rune tats. 2. Chicoans have a deep love of high school math. 3. Flynn's friends have a strange capacity for writing letters-to-the-editor at regularly timed intervals. Mary came from a good profession (politically speaking), was benign during her campaigning, and had a pre-existing and functional support network. I once compared her campaign filings (the ones that list financial donors and amounts) to some of the other candidates. Hers were 3 times thicker than the some of the others, which to me represents grass roots support (side note: congrats to Flynn for an ER "hit" today. I noticed the same thing during the council meeting referenced in that article). For what it's worth, I think Nickell got pulled into office on the strength of Flynn and Gruendl. But he also had some of Flynn's traits, and I'm sure he'll do a good job.

Summary: From the results I've seen I think the liberals were given a mandate from the voters. As a fiscally conservative guy, I don't want to see a lot of "Bidwell Ranch's" in the future. I'm still processing the "Gold Line" and am not yet vehemently opposed to the idea (more on that later). As a Chicoan, I'd rather see time spent securing property along the northern edge of upper Bidwell Park, as opposed to relentless efforts to stop growth. This council, which is decidedly liberal, will follow it's heart. It will have opportunities to be both responsible and irresponsible in the arenas of spending and land use. I would point out to my fellow Chicoans that with the latest appointments to the Planning Commission we've yet to see how far left the political pendulum has actually swung. A reasonably moderate, left leaning council may the best hope a fiscal conservative has. I'm willing to give this council the benefit of the doubt in the next two years. They earned it last November.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)

January 20, 2007

Up the Creek Without a Paddle

In my blog I rarely touch on state or federal level politics. It's not that I'm totally uninterested or uninformed of the shenanigans going on in those arenas. It's more that I'm severely annoyed by lengthy left-right rants about oil companies and taxes by people who can't do anything to create any change. On the other hand local stuff is something we can take part in and after a good rant, go down to City Hall and point some crooked, angry finger at our leaders. But here is something I need to comment on. Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, (D-Mountain View) wants to make spanking children up to 3 years old a misdemeanor. Now let's all recognize that beating your child, of any age, is against the law. But this law isn't designed to protect kids from a disciplinary beat down that makes some jackass feel like a big man, that's already a no-no. It's supposed to put a parent in cuffs after spanking a child for playing with matches.

You know, if our government is going to get into the parenting business let me make some more concrete suggestions. 1. Misdemeanor - If your kid doesn't know the alphabet by the time he/she starts kindergarten. 2. Felony - If you haven't saved $2,000 for you child's higher education by the time he/she is 5. 3. Life in Prison - If you bought Bratz for your little girl (or boy). 4. Death Penalty - For letting your kid become the "stinky kid in class". When I read about efforts like this I alternate between outrage and laughter. It's reminiscent of Texas sodomy laws. You've actually got to be in someone's house to enforce it, and more to the point it's none of your business. Government needs to quit telling us how to live our lives. I also recall the Oklahoma legislature endorsing spanking, which is equally ridiculous. The Nanny-State needs to die a fast death, but it won't. I blame both political parties for this nonsense. You should be building roads not legislating personal behavior. Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, (D-Mountain View) you are an idiot. Because of you I'm on the verge of forming a militia. If anyone out there has some muskets they can loan me for a short revolution, please contact me offline. Alternatively, I can just ignore this law like I ignore all the others that try to wrench personal decision making from the populace.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (3)

January 19, 2007

Watts Up With All The Colored Lines

You really can't have too much of a good thing. With the success of Jane Dolan's Green Line, Ann Schwab's newly proposed Gold Line, and Anthony Watt's well thought out Blue Line (see "Watts Up With That") , I was concerned that my own legacy might be in jeopardy if I don't step up to the plate and suggest a line of my own. So I am proposing a Chico Red Line. The Red Line will meet a number of real community needs as well as form a philosophical demarcation for the community. The Red Line will provide commuter rail service (underground, to maximize open space). It will run between both the North and South Wal-Marts (unless the North Wal-Mart isn't built, in which case it will stop at Trader Joe's). In addition to providing light rail service to Chico, everyone living west of the redline (or left) will be prohibited from driving automobiles. Farmers west of both the green line and the Red Line will have to farm by hand. Ambulance service will be via tandem bicycle. People living right, or east, of the Red Line must drive automobiles, and will not be allowed to use bicycles or other modes of transportation. This extends to even short trips to the mail box. Red Righty's also cannot attend the Saturday farmers market (on bike or not). I suspect a highly lucrative real estate market will develop along the Red Line with people living on the left side, and working on the right side. On the map I'm working on (for the next Council meeting) there is an area that falls within the green line, gold line, blue line, and red line. I suspect it will become a place where ships and airplanes disappear, where compasses go wild, and where strange lights are seen in the darkest of nights. I have to say the inspiration for this post came from Anthony Watt's and his post on the "blue line". I was planning on doing a post on the idea of a "gold line", but this was more fun. Thanks Anthony.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (3)

January 18, 2007

GIS Online

The City of Chico maintains a database of geographical information. Some of that information can be found on the City web site. Geographical information systems (GIS) makes use of computer systems to maintain geographic data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. The publicly accessible page on the city web site allows you to pan and zoom across all areas of the city. It can be used to view zoning of locations or to search for parcels. You will need to install a piece of map viewer software to view the maps, but its a pretty fast process. http://chico.facilitiesmap.com/application_login.cfm?public

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)

January 17, 2007

DPACking the Chamber

Consultants from HDR Town Planning and Nelson/Nygaard ran into early stumbling blocks at last nights council meeting. Steve Bertagna peppered them with questions related to information presented in the $170,000 downtown planning access charrette (see documents here). After a rough start they seemed to find their pace. Most of the discussion revolved around parking. The consultants provided a number of useful ideas for providing additional parking. These included the reduction from 3 to 2 lanes on Main and Broadway with bike lanes and diagonal parking added. A second idea was to remove time-limited meters (no more 2 hour meters) and have higher meter rates at the areas heavily used to shift parking towards unused spaces (see image above for occupancy by block). This is called differential meter rates. An interesting recommendation from the consultants was the abolishment or significant reduction of parking place "in-lieu of" fees associated with development downtown. Currently if a new downtown development cannot provide adequate spaces based on square-footage they may pay a fee of $16,000 per space in lieu of providing parking.

City staff followed the consultants and provided 4 main directions they would like to take in addressing traffic issues downtown, they are... 1. Optimize management of existing parking supply 2. Develop additional capacity as needed 3. Support non-automobile modes of travel 4. Develop a long-term vision for downtown These 4 points were actually just reiterations of the consultants findings. Reading the charrette documents can provide you with more details. Steve Gonsalves, representing the Downtown Parking and Access Coalition(DPAC), provided a presentation on downtown as well. DPAC supported many of the suggested implementations the consultants recommended. Gonsalves also pointed out that having a variety of meter prices would be most effective if coupled with other improvements to the pedestrian facilities. These improvements might be needed to make low occupancy areas convenient for pedestrian traffic. DPAC differed from the consultants in their belief that building more parking downtown would be necessary to generate significant development in the future. The consultants felt parking improvments could follow development. DPAC did not seem to think that a parking structure would need to be built soon. They also disagreed that reducing or eliminating the $16,000 "in lieu-of" fee would have any effect in sparking downtown development.

What followed these presentations was a string of business owners and other including Tom Lando, Katrina Davis (DCBA), Tom Hall (owner- Garden Walk Mall), Carleton Lowen (real estate broker), TJ Glenn, Alan Chamberlain, Rick Toffanelli (via a letter read by Becky Watner of DCBA), Jeff Ferrar, Dan Neumeister (representing the Chamber), and David Halimi (Diamond W.). The vast majority of speakers were concerned over the health of downtown businesses, and supported DPAC in their efforts. It was pointed out several times that the City of Chico requires 5 parking spaces per 1000 square feet for retail developments (Costco for example). And yet the City of Chico provides only 1.6 spaces per 1000 square feet of occupied retail space downtown. If you were to include unoccupied retail property downtown the 1.6/1000 square feet ratio decreases. A primary focus of many people was that the City needs to move forward with a defined focus for downtown. Do we want large successful retailers, do we want additional office space, do we want additional development? The Council for their part (with Schwab and Wahl absent due to "conflict of interest") carried on an amiable discussion that went like this... Bertagna wanted to see more parking and said he appreciated the overall attittude of the business supporters and DPAC. He was interested in implementing the feasible and lower cost strategies to improve parking now. Flynn suggested that building parking for the future and recognizing that many people need automobile access was important. Gruendl mentioned an ad hoc "downtown committee" and suggested high tech parking infrastructure using Zipidy as a service for paying for parking. Nickell echoed Gruendl and Flynn, and mentioned "taking back our downtown" (and then laid a Barretta on the table). Holcombe, "Best Chico Mayor Ever", wanted to add a downtown element to the General Plan update. But also wanted to get started "now". City Manager Greg Jones wanted to add a downtown "vision" component to the RFP (request for proposal) for the General Plan update. But suggested that some parking improvements could be explored today. Summary: The motion that finally was passed was to accept the recommendations of the City staff. But also to bring the recommendations back at a later date for final approval, and to provide timelines for implementation of the downtown improvements and planning requirements. Whew! That's three hours I'll never get back. Basically what the Council did was agree with DPAC, the consultants, and the City staff, that they should implement changes to increase parking efficiency and availability short of a deciding on a parking structure. We might see high occupancy parking areas have increased meter rates, or low occupancy areas have decreased meter rates. We could also see diagonal "back-in" parking throughout Main and Broadway.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (11)

January 16, 2007

See them tumbling down...

I ran across this remarkable specimen of Johnny Bidwell's Transient Thistle. It was discovered in 1841 by General John Bidwell when he crossed the Rockies and Sierras with the first overland expedition arriving in the Sacramento Valley. The plants are known for their rolling form of locomotion. From extensive studies I knew this was a list 1B California Native Plant Society herb, and so I quickly cordoned off the area to protect the plant. A stiff breeze blew up and the plant began rolling, so I was forced to take down the cordon, and put it back up several times. Mobile plants are very difficult to preserve. Of course I'm just kidding, Bidwell didn't discover this plant, and probably didn't like being called "Johnny". But tumbling along the train tracks and across 8th Avenue are tumbleweeds. I have lots of experience with tumbleweeds, also known as Russian Thistle, having spent many summers in New Mexico at a cattle ranch. I also once tied a 3' diameter tumbleweed to my Army helmet when training in Yakima desert (WA). As long as I rolled along the ground, nobody could see through my camouflage. After doing a little research I found out the unthinkable. This western icon is actually an invasive species transported into the U.S. from the Ukraine in a flax shipment (first reported in 1877). Now whenever I see a Ukrainian I'm going to hear that whistle from the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. These days when biking to work I hum the song "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" and ponder gunfights, childhood trips to New Mexico, camouflage techniques, Ukrainian farmers, and the City's invasive plant manual, all in one sweepingly grand thought process. Tumbleweeds in Chico, who'd have thought? Hum along with me... " See them tumbling down Pledging their love to the ground Lonely but free I'll be found Drifting along with the tumbling tumble weed"

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2007

Lee Beachamp's Night of Rest

(Photo is James Meredith and two U.S. Marshals) On Martin Luther King Jr. Day I would like to touch briefly on my personal experience with racism, and then re-tell a story of my Father’s era. I graduated from Novato High in 1985. We elected one of the few African American students of our graduating class of 200 to be our Homecoming King. It was no big deal. Six months later I was a new Army recruit serving in Mainz Germany and looking for something to do on my first night off. I wandered into a dance club, sat down, and ordered a drink (the drinking age in Germany at that time was 14). Within a few minutes a large black man walked up to me, grabbed me by the head, pressed his thumb deep into my left eye and said “I’m going to kill your white ass for coming here”. Another black man intervened and escorted me out, recommending I don’t come back. I realized on the way out I was the only white male there. I’ll always remember the anger directed at me because of my skin color, and I’ll never forget the stranger who stood up for me when he had nothing to gain from doing so. Both men were American soldiers.

I spent the next four years dealing with the dichotomy of having friends whose social circles I couldn't travel in because I was white, and listening to other friends as they waxed poetic about the return of the Confederacy. It was very eye-opening for a California suburbanite. As soldiers we were drawn together from all corners of the country, and some of those corners were pretty upset about race. Overt racism was intolerable to the institution of the United States Army. What I saw was always off duty or in private moments. And barring my first experience was never very personal or directed at me. But it was there, and we all knew it was there. With the Army being the longest integrated military service I was left wondering what the racial attitudes must be like in the home communities of some of the soldiers I met. I have to think that many people learn racial tolerance from their experience in the military. My experience leads me to believe that the civil rights movement created a sea-change in racial understanding, but American culture will need to grind racial divides down over generations. What Martin Luther King Jr. started isn't yet finished.

My dad, Bill Glazner, served many years in the Border Patrol. In 1962 he was stationed in New York. A good friend of his, Lee Beachamp (currently living in Grand Forks, ND) was being deputized as a US Marshal in Oxford Mississippi. He took part in one of the pivotal moments of the civil rights movement. James Meredith had applied to Ole Miss and was denied enrollment. The court system stepped in and said he was guaranteed access to higher education. He was to be the first African American to gain access to that institution. Mississippi state officials, including the governor, opposed the desegregation. His enrollment caused riots on the campus and in the community. In order to provide immediate protection for Meredith 500 U.S. Marshals were deputized and set to guard the college administration building. These officers were drawn from other agencies including the Border Patrol. A New York columnist at the time wrote about a "secret police" unit arriving in Mississippi. His reasoning was that all U.S. Marshals he had seen before were fat, and these Marshals were all young and strapping. What he didn't know is that the call to the Border Patrol for men specifically asked for those 6' and over. U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett eventually agreed that diffusing the situation was for the best. Unfortunately, the state police who had been providing order felt compelled to side with the rioters. The state police formed a parade (flashing lights and all), and led the rioters down to the administration building protected by the newly minted marshals, and then drove out of town en masse. Robert F. Kennedy had this to say... So to hear these reports that were coming in to the President and to myself all last night - when the situation with the state police having deserted the situation, and these men standing up there with courage and ability and great bravery - that was a very moving period in my life. During the riots 2 people were killed and 30 U.S. Marshals were wounded by gunfire. A Navy sailor on leave rammed the administration building with a bulldozer. Unbeknownst to the rioters, James Meredith was secreted across campus, and safely out of harms way. He was guarded by Lee Beachamp. After Meredith fell asleep, Beachamp decided to pull up a cot next to him. The two slept the night away peacefully, while the civil rights movement fought one of its most violent battles a short distance away. Men with no ties to the movement defended a building with nothing in it to protect. All because their government told them to. That's a reality of the civil rights movement. On that night it was force of law and strength of purpose that made Martin Luther King Jr's dream step closer to reality. That's something we shouldn't forget.

Side Notes: James Meredith was wounded by a sniper in 1966 while on a march. While widely considered a pivotal figure in the civil rights movement wikipedia says this about Meredith... James Meredith views himself as an individual American citizen who demanded and got the rights properly extended to any American, not as a participant in the US civil rights movement. There is considerable enmity between James Meredith and the organized Civil Rights Movement.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM

January 14, 2007

Enterprise In The Red

Some departments of the City of Chico perform services using "Enterprise Funds" (see page 12). Fee structures are set up for the services provided by the City and those fees go into the funds as revenue. Against that revenue City staff bill hours worked and expenses for projects. The desired result is that the fees received from the public balance against the time billed by the City workers. This allows the service provided by the City to pay for itself. This whole process is set up to break even, and profits are not expected. But all is not well in the world of Enterprise Funds.

Enterprise Funds associated with private development and subdivision development are expected to be $5.3 million in the red in 2007 ($9mil in '08). That's up from $2.6 million in the red in 2006. This dramatic increase in debt is pulling the sum of all of the Enterprise Funds (which include sewer services, parking revenue, and airport operation) into the red as well. See the fund balances here. So what's causing the dramatic losses? It's essentially being blamed on the permit and appeals process for construction. When the City Manager talks of streamlining the permit process it's the costly churning of appeals that is driving the need for a new way of "doing business". But it's a difficult problem to solve. The Enterprise fee to file an appeal to construction or development is $200. This price is affordable for most people, and dramatically increasing the cost would make it difficult for the average joe to afford. Increasing the fee would reduce the number of appeals but significantly diminish the voice of neighbors to an unwanted project. One estimate I've heard for the appeals process is that it costs about $12,000 in staff time to complete. Builders pay about $7,000 per home for permits etc (this is in addition to the $11,000 per home development impact fee). So permits and fees already add about $22,000 to the cost of a new home in Chico (based on a 20% profit margin). The losses the City incurs from appeals is not currently paid by the builders, and therefore not incorporated into new home prices. Successfully streamlining this process will eventually come down to two things. The first is to have builders pay more of the bill for appeals. The second is to hear fewer appeals reducing the City staff workload and the cost of "churning" designs through the process. Based on the make-up of the new Planning Commission I doubt the second option will occur without intervention from the City Council. Without some protection from purely obstruction based appeals to construction local builders will be unlikely to embrace paying more into the Enterprise fund. Mr. Jones has his work cut out for him.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (3)

January 13, 2007

Chamber Holds Council Hostage... Forces State of City Discussion!

I've got to start this post with a plea! Andy, you've got to quit calling my cell phone and house and asking if you're still the "Best Chico Mayor Ever". When you lose the title I'll let you know. Okay, now that that's out of the way we can get on to business. Today's "State of the City" was very interesting. For those of you that couldn't attend, or didn't hear it on KPAY, Mark Sorensen has posted a copy to his web site for us to listen in (thank you Mark, and KPAY, and Chamber, and Tod Kimmelshue, and...). Here it is... I played this MP3 and discussed the broadcast with a number of friends. Some of them are democrats, others are republicans, and still more are "decline-to-states". I've compiled all of the comments as well as my own, with no reference to who the comment is from (see if you can figure out which comments are mine, there's only two). Here's what we all thought...

First the City Manager spoke for 15 minutes or so outlining the state of the City... Speaker: Greg Jones Comments: If this is better, faster, smarter, we're in trouble. Can we really do a 100 year budget forecast? A plan to fix our streets... what a novel idea. And then came the parade of councilors. Speaker: Steve Bertagna Comments: Man he really seems to like the police. I've never heard him better prepared. Is he trying to be funny, I can't tell, should I laugh? Speaker: Mary Flynn Comments: She's got the most positive message for the future. I wish I could put crochet needles in my eyes, please make this end. Hmmm, I wonder if she shops at Wal-Mart? Speaker: Scott Gruendl Comments: I thought this guy was a liberal! Isn't that the guy who hates kites? Why is he talking about Bertagna's saliva? Speaker: Andy Holcombe Comments: Sense of place...Sense of place....Sense of place... Poor guy, he's got a pretty bad cold doesn't he? "Best Chico Mayor Ever"!!!! Speaker: Tom Nickell Comments: Man he really seems to like the police. Man he really seems to like the police. Man he really seems to like the police. This is what you get when you elect a cop! Speaker: Ann Schwab Comments: (the wind whistles down the valley, I can almost hear the grass growing, in the distance a dog barks...) Speaker: Larry Wahl Comments: I knew Wahl was a disc golfer! You know, grumpy old men aren't bad politicians, as long as they're also tight-wads. Larry came off too negative. Larry was the only one honest about what's wrong with Chico's government. You can listen to the MP3 yourself and let me know what you thought. It's your government, you might as well pay attention to them. As a last point I want to say that the last comment about Wahl came from someone who is probably more liberal than I am. And the comment before that (about being too negative) came from someone more conservative than me. So you really can't tell what people "hear" when they hear politicians. But if you don't listen you don't hear anything. And eat your brocholli, it' s good for you.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (7)

January 12, 2007

Pink Slips...Lots of Them

Gainful employment in Chico is not an easy thing to achieve. I remember after college I'd see old friends come back into town expecting to land a job and assume our "quality of life" as their own. After a few months waiting tables or "temping" most of them opted for greener employment pastures elsewhere. Some of us lucky ones made it work. It's sad that so many employees lost their jobs at Enloe. Most of them won't find employment in that same line of work in Chico. Will the loss of jobs be tied back to the union negotiations that were so contentious, will it be blamed on the new management, or maybe the old management? Is it any wonder that after months of our local elitists baring their fangs at the local hospital that the institution is having financial problems? I can still hear our last Mayor calling Enloe "undemocratic" after attending the local union rally. Hopefully those condemnations are over. If we're lucky this is a fiscal re-tuning, and not the beginning of ""Atlas Shrugged"" from our city's largest employer.

I ran across a number of lists of top Chico employers on the internet, and many of the lists differed. But Enloe was always at the top of the lists. Here's one that I found that looks outdated, but serves the purpose of this post. Top Non-Manufacturing Employers (by Employee Size) Enloe Medical Center (2268 employees)* County of Butte (2032) California State University, Chico (1823 employees) Chico Unified School District (1400 employees) TriCounties Bank (700) Butte-Glenn Community College District (602 employees) Lifetouch National School Studios, Inc. (500) City of Chico (374) Top Manufacturing Employers (by Employee Size) Sierra Nevada Brewery (325) Koret of California (250 employees) Sungard BiTech Software (200) Aero Union Corporation (185 employees) Sunset Moulding Company (145 employees) Smucker Quality Beverages, Inc. (130 employees) Lundberg Family Farms (110) Norfield Industries (110 employees) JG Brattan (100) Wrex Products, Inc. of Chico (93 employees) * Maybe today Enloe moves down one spot.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (20)

January 11, 2007

3...2...1... Impact

Your insurance company and auto mechanic might charge you an impact fee if your car suffered like the one above. But that's not the impact fee this post is about. Development impact fees are often assessed on new projects to help pay for......... well, impacts. The "Nexus Study" that identifies the fee schedule is regularly updated by the City of Chico (see newest update here). During these updates fees may be modified (up or down). City Councils of both political stripes have had the opportunity to do so with liberal majority Councils setting the fees in recent history. There are numerous restrictions on what these fees may be collected for and how they may be used. Some of these restrictions are derived from state law while others come from our city government. It's important for Chicoans to understand how these fees are supposed to be used, so they're not seen as a panacea for solving public woes.

As an example of local restrictions see the section 3.85 and section 15.36 of the Chico Municipal Code. Fees are currently collected for street improvements, police and fire facilities, expanding Bidwell Park, sewer improvements, bike infrastructure , building parks and greenways, and a city administration building. Roughly $11,000 goes into these accounts for each single family dwelling built (about 1/3 of that going to streets). There has to be a direct relationship between the fee collected and the impact caused by the development (a nexus). For example, you wouldn't use development impact fees collected from a housing development to improve the airport. Since the fees are typically applied to localized impacts traffic improvements are generally in the vicinity of a project. It would be hard to justify improving roads in Chapmantown with fees collected from Canyon Oaks. Once a fee is collected it must be used for the purpose it was collected for, or could be refunded. That's a bit of an overview of development impact fees. The 2006-7 Nexus Update contains a lot of information on the topic (first link in this post). Check it out if you have time.

The text below is from the Chico Municipal Code and describes some of the requirements the City faces in defining development impact fees. 3.85.115 Additional findings to be made when establishing the amount of development impact fees assessed and levied pursuant to this chapter. At the time of establishing the amount of the transportation facility fees, storm drainage facility fees, park facility fees and/or building and equipment fees hereinafter authorized by this chapter, or at the time of increasing or decreasing such fees other than an annual adjustment to the fees made in the manner hereinafter provided by this chapter to account for inflation, the city council shall make the following findings in support of such fees: A. Finding that such fees have been determined and calculated in the manner required by this chapter, and B. The following additional findings required by Section 66001 of the Government Code which demonstrate that there is a nexus between the public improvements and facilities for which such fees are imposed and the need for such improvements and facilities created by the development of residential and nonresidential property within the city upon which the fees are imposed: 1. Findings which identify the purpose of the fees, 2. Findings which identify the use to which the fees are to be put, 3. Findings which demonstrate that there is a reasonable relationship between the use of the fees and the type of development project on which the fees are imposed, 4. Findings which demonstrate how there is a reasonable relationship between the need for the public facilities and the type of development project on which the fees are imposed, and 5. Findings which demonstrate how there is a reasonable relationship between the amount of the fees and the cost of the public facilities or portion of the public facilities attributable to the development project on which the fees are imposed. (Ord. 1956 §1 (part))

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM

January 10, 2007

Nothing To Sphere But Sphere Itself

You'll often hear about Chico's "sphere of influence" when following City-County discussions. But where is it? In the diagram above (see original pdf here) you'll see a dotted line that surrounds both shaded areas and some areas that are white. The shaded areas are incorporated "City of Chico", while the white areas both inside and outside of the sphere of influence are unincorporated areas of Butte County. An interesting aspect of the sphere of influence is that it also represents the eventual expansion of Chico through annexations from the County. This is our expected "build-out". We've spent the last several years filling in islands of county property and will continue doing so. As you can see from the diagram, there is not a lot of property left for the City to incorporate. There are a couple of points worth making in relation to our sphere of influence. The first is that it does not extend much beyond Bidwell Park. It would be a good idea to bring the area north of the park within our sphere of influence. The area south of the park and north of highway 32 would also be an area we could look at. Since the County is updating its Master Plan now might be a good time to discuss this. The second point is that the other cities in Butte County have much less incorporated "city" areas within their spheres of influence (as a percentage of total area). Oroville in particular has quite a bit of room to grow. Oroville is close enough to Chico to provide lower cost housing for our low paid retail employees. Traffic planners should expect increases in commuter traffic from Oroville, Orland, and even Gridley, due to our lack of affordable housing and their room to grow.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM

January 09, 2007

We're Watching You In 2007

Here is the cover from the latest Chico News and Review issue. The cover photo references a "Who To Watch in '07" story, and some of the celebs are in the vehicle. I don't have a high resolution image for this blog, so you'll have to review the print version. The image presents a number of strange and mysterious questions. 1. Why aren't they riding bikes? The Ford Mustang is widely known as a pollutant producing vehicle. I can hardly breath knowing that they were tooling around town pumping cubic-yard after cubic-yard out of their earth destroying tail pipes. That Pony Car is 8 cyclinders of global warming coming right at ya! At least drive a hybrid for Gaia's sake! Leadership by example folks...leadership by example. 2. Who is in the car? In the driver seat is Andy Holcombe, and Ann Schwab is in the passenger seat. But Ann wasn't listed in the "who to watch on '07" story the photo advertises. How did she get in the car? Was she hitch-hiking? And the back seat passenger(s) is not named. It looks like Maureen Kirk in the back seat but who really knows? And a face seems to be peering out from behind and left of Ann Schwab. Who are behind these "People To Watch"? What if it's somebody dangerous, like Kelly Ripa, or Bob Saget. 3. How come they didn't let a woman drive? We all know how important symbolism is. Women won many significant races in the last elections. And both of the highest vote getters in the last two Council races were women (Schwab then Flynn). I think it's time to put away the '70s macho chauvinism, and let the ladies take the wheel. Come on Andy, let Kirk take a few laps, your "Best Chico Mayor Ever" title is hanging by a thread.

Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM

January 08, 2007

Giving Us The Bird

I took a family trip to the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area south of Gridley (map here) to take in the grandeur of the Snow geese. The cost to enter is relatively low at $2.50/person, people under 16 being free. Travel time is about 80 minutes round-trip. About 80% of the area is open to hunting, but the area you hike in is not (you'll hear shotgun "booms" going off in the background). The Gray Lodge was a duck hunting club before it was a waterfowl management area. There are two short hiking trails, and one "automobile only" trail through the area. The birds stay pretty far away from the hiking trails, and binoculars are a must for a good view (not something we had brought). The photo above is from one of two permanent blinds which provided the best viewing. Walking the trails took about 40 minutes and we did not drive the auto-only trail. This was the kind of experience I would recommend people do every few years. Sort of like hiking to the Feather Falls in Oroville (the water, not the Casino). It would not be fun for most kids under 5 or 6. There are regular educational tours, and the birds are supposed to be more active in the morning and evenings. A one time manager of the area wrote this (complete article) about his experience... "While living there, we saw sights few people witness. Snow geese flying on a clear moonlit night, so clear and bright, reading was almost possible. We saw flights of ducks and geese flying out of the refuge at dusk and returning the next morning. Some flights lasted more than an hour. At first, you could only hear them, just specks in the sky and then they would start circling and folding their wings, dropping like falling leaves on the water." But to get us back to a less romantic reality of what you'll experience with your visit here is what you will hear (click "song" at left) at the Gray Lodge.

Posted by Lon at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)

January 07, 2007

I'm Alright

Today is my birthday. But not just any birthday , it's the big 4-0. That's right, 40 years old, or 4 decades, or 0.4 centuries old. It's days like today that make me consider my place in the world. I had considered having a mid-life crisis, like pilfering from my retirement account to buy a convertible GTO (oops.. try here instead). All of those concerns were cut short when I came across direct evidence of the interconnectedness of life. Some things go beyond coincidence and display the hand of god working in our world. Here is one example. I have a "happy dance" called "The Squirrel". The Squirrel was conceived one drunken college night upstairs at the Bear back in the early 90's, and was directly related to the "Gopher Dance" from Caddyshack (shown above). It would have been called the "Gopher Dance", but as I stated it was a drunken college night. It turns out that the song the Gopher is dancing to is "I'm Alright" written by the fabulous Kenny Loggins. I haven't been much of a Kenny Loggins fan, but I do admire his hair. As it turns out Kenny was born on January 7th, 1948. Pure coincidence? I think not. Somehow Kenny Loggins and I have become eternally linked by the positive and uplifting message presented by the Gopher's magical movement. We're also both Capricorns, which I think has something to do with something. While I don't have footage of my particular dance, I have found a strong facsimile to it. Enjoy this dance at your next party, and be sure to praise Kenny's hair and the date of January 7th when you do so.

Posted by Lon at 10:02 AM | Comments (4)

January 06, 2007

Two Times The Fun

The draft EIRs for both the North and South Wal-Marts have been posted to the City of Chico web site. I'm looking forward to seeing one of the most successful corporations in the world come to loggerheads with some of our most vocal neighbors. I think it's ridiculous when people use Wal-Mart as the vessel for all things evil in the world. But I don't care whether they expand and/or add a new location. Chico doesn't need Wal-Mart (1 or 2), but we didn't need a Trader Joe's, Old Navy, or Best Buy either. Most business is not about "need" it's about "want". Since I don't have a dog in this fight I'm considering the entertainment value this issue presents. Mostly I'm just intrigued by the happy little drama that will unfold at city hall. I expect we'll see some ranting and raving, and maybe a couple of legal threats. Good times, good times.

Posted by Lon at 02:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 05, 2007

More Costco Traffic

Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) are not very fun to read. But they do contain quite a bit of information. In the case of the Costco expansion draft EIR there are also a few interesting graphics. It includes everything from elevation drawings to lighting plans. As I mentioned in my last post, I found the traffic data to be hard to fathom. It was page after page of text output from some traffic engineer computer program. The 3.1% increase in traffic stated at the City Council meeting seemed related to people and not cars, and was provided by the applicant and is not independant data. Eventually, I just decided to compare the number of parking spaces currently available (564) to those that are planned (837) for the expanded facility. The percentage difference probably relates to the increase in traffic Costco expects. Also, from the EIR you can find that on average 70% of Costco parking spaces are used (unlike the City, successful retailers build parking capacity for peak demand, and not for daily use patterns). Costco is building an additional 273 spaces, which is a 48% increase over the existing amount of parking. If 70% of those spaces are used then there will be an additional 191 cars at the store. Costco currently averages around 420 cars parked in its lot. So the increase in vehicles is potentially significant. Traffic increases would logically be significant as well.

I don't mind Costco expanding, and I don't often shop there (except for the Polish dogs). I don't really buy into the premise that they should pay for all improvements to that road system, and legally I don't think they have to. But traffic and roads in Chico are a nightmare that we need to focus on solving. Some people want to emphasize buses and bikes as a solution. I think that's somewhat of a fantasy but maybe I'm wrong. I think good data and planning will do much more to solve our growing traffic problems.

Posted by Lon at 12:01 AM | Comments (6)

January 04, 2007

Costco Traffic Numbers Not Clear

On Tuesday night the Council put the kabosh on Costco's expansion for the time being. The project intends to build a replacement facility on vacant land west of the existing Costco, add a gas station, and then tear down the existing building. Councilors Wahl and Bertagna both opposed approving the plans out of concerns over traffic. Wahl suggested that somebody should shoulder the cost of traffic improvements on Whitman Ave (later to be renamed after Martin Luther King Jr.) before the entire area becomes zoned for retail. The property Costco is expanding into will need to be rezoned from light industrial uses (manufacturing like Sierra Nevada) to retail. Bertagna pointed out that most of that light industrial zoning along Whitman will likely be converted to retail over time, and he's probably right. He's also expressed disbelief in the increase in traffic the project will cause as estimated by a City hired consultant (3.1% more cars on Whitman due to the 40% expansion of Costco). Other Council members were concerned about the environmental and alternative transportation aspects of the design. Their questions included concerns about pedestrian, bike, and bus access, and alternative energy systems. An interesting fact is that the existing building will be recycled on site, with 70% of it being used as the base material for new parking areas. Costco was asked to work with City planners to address the traffic issues and return with changes in the next 60 days.

After watching the Council meeting, and glancing at the EIR it appears that the 3.1% increase in traffic cited by the consultant may not be correct. A figure given in the draft EIR (Costco_Draft_EIR_-_Appendices page 73) of 3.1% is the average for the "average daily door count" from 3 similar Costco expansions, and not an hourly increase in "trip counts" for traffic. I would assume the "door count" is the number of customers entering the facility. Additionally, traffic estimates for Whitman Ave. with and without Costco's expansion show significant changes in traffic (existing, 2010, and 2018 are provided). The estimate for 2010 shows 440 right-hand turns into Costco from Whitman Ave heading south. Without the Costco expansion the traffic count is estimated at 370 (Costco_Draft_EIR_- Part II pages 204 and 207 location 5). That is about a 20% increase in traffic turning right into Costco. It's clear that there is already a traffic problem at Costco on Whitman. The diagrams and other traffic info in the draft EIR are not easy to decipher and were not well presented. The City Council should have access to simplified diagrams. And more importantly the City planning staff should not have to rely on consultants to produce accurate numbers during Council meetings.

Posted by Lon at 06:43 AM | Comments (4)

January 03, 2007

Stick Wins Seat... Holcombe "Best Chico Mayor Ever"

I applied for the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission. Last night the City Council voted not only keep me off the commission, but also to build a mobile barrier that follows me so that I can never enjoy "open space" again. The redevelopment agency will foot the bill. Of the 42 people that applied for these spots, about 1/3 didn't show up. Some people that didn't show up were appointed to positions. In a strangely masochistic move the City Council appointed John Merz to the Planning Commission. John is one of the appellants suing Chico in the cell-phone tower law suit. Is he now suing himself? He's also a Friend of Bidwell Park... but in the end aren't we all? I didn't make it past the first round of voting, or to the drawing of tarow cards (which are used in the final ceremony to select Commissioners). I was nudged out by an old dirt-encrusted stick somebody threw down the aisle (see photo above). I think it was blue oak, but it could have been elm. The highlight of my night was having Chico Mayor Andy Holcombe vote for me. I'm granting Andy a 60 day reprieve from blog comments deriding homeless campgrounds. I'm also giving him temporary title of "Best Chico Mayor Ever". I should also commend Larry Wahl and Steve Bertagna for voting for me. Although, I'm pretty sure Steve also voted for the stick. As for Flynn, Nickell, Gruendl, and Schwab... I've got my eye on you four. And I'm still upset I wasn't invited to Scott's highly thematic New Year's Eve party!

All kidding aside, what really happened? As far as I could tell all "incumbents" we're returned to their positions except Vic Alvistur(replaced by Susan Minasian). John Merz wasn't a surprise, but he'll cause builders of anything (stores, homes, LEGOs, etc) to have fits. He replaces Irv Schiffman (didn't re-apply) on the Planning Commission. All of the incumbent Park Commissioners were returned. Lucas and Walker are both extremely good. I haven't taken a liking to Ober yet, who had filled Anne Schwab's seat 2 years ago when she was elevated to Supreme Lord Councilor (pronounced cown-sell-ORRR with heavy stress on the ORRR). Someone named Lisa took Russell Mills spot (how's that for accurate reporting... maybe that's the stick's name?, BTW, Mills a CSUC professor didn't re-apply). I think the best way to describe the selections is that everything shifted a bit left from where it was, just like the Council did. I left after the Planning and Park Commission selections, but the ER has this story on who was appointed to the various Commissions.

Posted by Lon at 08:12 AM

January 02, 2007

Towers Not Uncommon In Bidwell Park

(Also titled "Towers Common In Bidwell Park") I just wanted to point out that utility towers are not a rare commodity in our wonderful open-space. There are two strings of power-line towers between Hooker Oak Recreation area (proposed site of cell phone tower) and Bear Hole. It might be nice if they weren't there right in the middle of my "view shed", but they don't ruin Bidwell Park. I find those giant blueberry porta-potties that dot the landscape much more unsightly.

Posted by Lon at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)