Feb. 5, 2005: Oak Valley Subdivision

This is the text from a speech by Marilyn Ditmanson at the Oak Valley Subdivision.

The Green Party advocates Grassroots Democracy

Every human being deserves a say in the decisions that affect their lives. We are here to advocate for present and future generations who will be affected by the choices we make, as a community, today.

The Oak Valley development is a massive project, to be built partially on the Humboldt Road Burn Dump. This proposal will have significant impacts on the watershed, the groundwater, the viewshed, the oak woodlands, the traffic and the taxpayers.

The Green Party advocates for Ecological Wisdom

It is our responsibility to maintain an ecological balance and live within the ecological and resource limits of our communities. The Oak Valley development area most likely includes several broad groundwater recharge zones, particularly where waterways cut into the surface. Any urban runoff into recharge zones would contaminate Chico’s and the valley’s groundwater. Any cutting into the hardpan for foundations, roads, and stormwater basins is likely to risk seepage into groundwater as well.

No housing development has ever been approved in California on a former burn dump site. Building homes on the Burn Dump site puts the future residents at risk from the toxic contents of the dump, and the city, and ALL its citizens, at risk for future lawsuits. Any dump “cleanup” done after groundbreaking on the development would endanger the health of workers on the development, future residents, and current residents, none of whom would be protected as though they were working with toxic waste.

The Green Party advocates for Social Justice and Equal Opportunity

All persons should have the right and opportunity to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment. Humboldt Road is an historic treasure, highly prized by cyclists. It has been proposed that it be paved over and possibly relocated. It would at least be urbanized with cars, destroying its historical and recreational benefits. We suggest preserving an untrafficked route, with a wide bike-pedestrian path and wide natural buffers on each side to preserve these benefits and be an amenity for residents.

Hwy 32 still isn’t in the nexus study, therefore the taxpayers, instead of the users (future residents and the developers), will pay the entire cost of traffic mitigation. The estimate some time ago was $10 million dollars just for Highway 32. Humboldt Road, Bruce Road, and Stilson Canyon Road may not be in the nexus study either. Are the taxpayers, again, going to subsidize a select few?

The Green Party advocates for Economic Justice

We must look to economic development that assures protection of the environment; broad citizen participation in planning; and enhancement of our quality of life. The Chico General Plan calls for strict protection of viewsheds by clustering in less visible sites, with low profiles blending with the terrain. All it takes is a walk up the North Rim Trail of Bidwell Park to see the blatant disregard for the General Plan. The building on the south rim of Bidwell Park is an abominable display of arrogance and a monument to the complete failure of our representative bodies to protect the environment and the rights of citizens. Maybe the South Rim of Bidwell Park will serve as a permanent reminder that our governments require micromanaging, on the part of the public, at all times.

We expect that you will protect the entire community on the Oak Valley development . We advocate halting this project until these crucial concerns are resolved.