Housing & homelessness Archives

Controversial Tuscan Ridge rolls forward County supes vote in favor of Skyway housing project

photo by Yucheng Tang

Butte County’s Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to move forward with Tuscan Ridge, but developer Mark West still has to meet conditions of approval.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Jan. 3

Butte County’s supervisors have approved the controversial Tuscan Ridge housing project on the south side of Skyway, but the developer must still jump hurdles related to water, sewer and drainage.

The supervisors voted 4-1 Dec. 10 to move a project forward that will plant 165 single-family homes where the Tuscan Ridge Golf Course was once located between Chico and Paradise. After the Camp Fire, the site housed the PG&E base camp. The entire 163-acre project area will include six commercial lots and houses that are between 3,000 and 20,000 square feet in size. read more

Deaths of unsheltered people continue in 2024 Safe Space opens winter sheltering

photo by Yucheng Tang

The mural on Park Avenue commemorates Chico-area residents who are usually homeless and have died on the streets or in other public spaces.

by Yucheng Tang & Leslie Layton
posted Dec. 16

A march to commemorate the unhoused who have passed away in a public space will begin at Children’s Park at 4:40 p.m. Dec 21 and conclude at the Our Hands sculpture where a memorial will take place. And Safe Space, the nonprofit that operates seasonal nighttime sheltering, restarted its winter program Dec. 15.

Dec. 21 — the day that has the longest night in a year — is nationwide Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. The first Annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day was commemorated in 1990, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, in order to remember those who have died while experiencing homelessness. There have been between 10 and 18 such deaths in Chico in 2024. read more

Blue trailer delivers to the homeless: Hot showers, clean clothes, hope The Oroville-based Haven of Hope on Wheels now has five trailer units

photo by Karen Laslo

Earl Lewis, who runs on-site operations at the shower-and-laundry unit Haven of Hope on Wheels, discussed his work in a recent November interview.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Dec. 2

“135?” someone calls out from in front of the blue trailer.

“Here,” says a man in a green jacket and blue jeans, who then takes charge of his freshly-packed laundry bag labelled “135.”

The man puts the bag in his arm and walks toward the shopping cart filled with his other belongings.

Suddenly, he lowers his head and leans toward the plastic bag, smelling his freshly washed and dried clothes as if he was smelling the fragrance of flowers. Then, he smiles, illuminated by warm sunlight. read more

Safe Space works to overcome hurdles to intake Unhoused people may be stranded during storm

photo by Karen Laslo

Safe Space volunteers checked in people who needed shelter during an intake held near the municipal center last winter.

by Leslie Layton & Natalie Hanson
posted Nov. 20

The nonprofit organization Safe Space is working to get emergency night-time sheltering available by Christmas Day as unhoused people struggle with this week’s downpour.

Forecasts were indicating that up to 10 inches of rain were possible in Chico between today and the end of the week, as well as localized flooding. Safe Space Executive Director Hilary Crosby said outreach teams were on the streets handing out tarps and making sure homeless community members “knew about the storm coming through.” read more

The race between two Mikes Two candidates vie for the Chico City Council's District 1 seat

by Yucheng Tang
posted Oct. 1

Editor: ChicoSol will cover the races for four City Council seats that voters will decide in the Nov. 5 General Election. The first in our series is District 1, where candidate Michael O’Brien has outspent opponent Michael Johnson by almost nine times. (See graphic below.)

Candidate Mike O’Brien is the head of Butte County Interagency Narcotics Task Force and a former Chico police chief; his opponent, Mike Johnson, is a businessman running an IT consulting business and a U.S. Navy officer. read more

Back to court: City wants relief from Settlement Agreement Chico leaders reject plaintiffs' proposed revisions

by Leslie Layton
posted Aug. 8

The City of Chico plans to file a court motion next week asking for “relief” from the Warren v. Chico Settlement Agreement, an effort to give City leaders the latitude they seek to enforce anti-camping ordinances, conduct evictions and generally address homelessness.

As negotiations between the City and Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC) came to a crashing halt, the City today issued a press release that says “… with regard to the Warren Settlement Agreement itself, the City expects to file a motion to seek judicial relief” next week. read more