by Leslie Layton and Karen Laslo
Chico-area residents and Butte County leaders spoke at last week’s Senate committee hearing in Sacramento, some in support and some in opposition to Assemblyman James Gallagher’s Camp Fire housing bill that will encourage large-scale development.
Gallagher’s bill, AB 430, was passed July 3 on a 5-1 vote by the Senate’s Environmental Quality Committee and will be the subject of a final committee hearing on July 10. The bill will facilitate housing construction in eight communities by letting builders, in many cases, circumvent review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and by reducing requirements for public hearings for new development.
The Chico City Council voted in May to be removed from AB 430, titled the “Camp Fire Housing Assistance Act of 2019,” and introduced by Gallagher (R-Yuba City). AB 430 would be applied to the cities of Biggs, Corning, Gridley, Live Oak, Orland, Oroville, Willows and Yuba City. To what extent the legislation would meet the needs of Camp Fire survivors is unclear; there is no provision in the bill for affordable housing, which is what drew many Paradise residents to that town.