PARADISE – At a special town council meeting held May 22 at 6 p.m. at Paradise Alliance Church, PG&E revealed plans to fund and implement underground utilities in Paradise. The process is expected to take about five years to complete.
PG&E Vice President of Operations Aaron Johnson offered apologies for the role the company’s equipment played in the Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in California history.
“We (PG&E) have an obligation to do the right thing for this community,” Johnson said during the presentation. “The cost will be taken on by PG&E to underground the town.”
Attendees of the meeting clapped and some stood and cheered, as did council members and officials.
While the news of undergrounding power lines was well-received, the presentation that preceded PG&E was less so.
President and CEO of Urban Design Associates (UDA), based out of Pittsburg, Penn., Barry J. Long, provided a presentation of ideas. Long serves as the Town of Paradise planning consultant.
UDA presented recovery projects and building standard changes based on community input from past meetings and surveys.
The presentation covered five identified goals. The first was to make Paradise safer; second, Long said, was to be welcoming in regard to housing; third was to make Paradise economically stronger; fourth was to improve infrastructure; and fifth was to make Paradise greener, referring to sustainability.
There were 40 recovery projects identified in the presentation that support those five goals. In addition, the presentation gave ideas for the council to consider at their June meeting for changes to local building standards that would potentially make Paradise more fire-safe.
Long said, “These are not recommendations, just ideas.” He added that he wanted to emphasize, “We’re not there yet.”
Long said that there is a balance to be found between safety and affordability and the council will have to weigh those when deciding on changes.
“I don’t envy this task of looking for a balance,” Long said.
He said some of the concerns that Paradise residents voiced included implementing a mass notification system, underground utilities and evacuation routes.
There was a heavy focus during Long’s presentation on manufactured homes and ideas related to codes and standards and what might be implemented in Paradise. Long noted that costs would be associated with the standards.
After the presentation, attendees were invited to view exhibits for each of the recovery projects and building standard changes to provide feedback. The exhibits will also be displayed in Town Hall for one week to obtain more public input prior to the council’s decision in June.
Additionally, the council voted to adopt an ordinance that allows residents to obtain a building permit for a garage or storage shed more than 120-square-feet in size before getting building permits for homes.
There are tiered building sizes based on the zoning of properties, and a site plan would be required with the future location of the planned house. The town heard from many people that they need a garage or storage shed while they are living on their property, prior to rebuilding their primary home, to store tools and building materials.
