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Home My WebLink AboutPRED25-0001 PROJECT DESCRIPTION Chico Executive RV & Boat Storage PROJECT DESCRIPTION 870 Oroville – Chico Hwy, Durham, CA 95938 PRED25-0001 General Description: The proposed Project is to be a newly constructed, state-of-the-art solar generating facility with ancillary boat and RV storage underneath the solar canopies. The solar generating site will be 3 Megawatts (MW) AC that will generate approximately 6,000,000kWh of renewable energy, sold to PG&E, which in turn will power roughly 2,000 homes and businesses in the greater Chico area with renewable energy. We believe there is strong demand for local, renewable energy generating facilities and this property is in a prime location to provide this energy. Not only will this use provide a service in high demand, but the County will also benefit from developing and beautifying a vacant piece of land and job creation from the construction and ongoing operation of the business. These benefits to the community come with very low traffic generation, low environmental impact, low impact to the adjacent uses, and an equally low demand on public services. Site Plan Summary: The development is planned on approximately 12 acres of the essentially flat, rectangular shaped site that is currently vacant land. The facility will consist of an office, possibly a caretaker’s quarters, and several solar canopies providing shaded parking spaces for the RV & Boat storage customers. The site will be entirely fenced with a min. 8’ tall steel fencing which adds significant security for the customer and serves to screen the parked boats and RVs from public view. The office will be located just off the entry on Oroville-Chico Hwy. The office for boat & RV storage customers will be open during regular business hours. The Project is proposing to provide screening by using landscaping and the exterior walls shall be constructed of decorative block, concrete panel, stucco, or similar material. A change in perimeter fence plane of at least twelve (12) inches shall be used at least every sixty (60) feet around the Project’s perimeter. Landscaping shall be provided continuously along any frontage of the Project. The interior vehicular circulation is designed to meet the Fire Department turning radius requirements. The approximately 1,000 square foot office building at the facility entry is positioned to be able to view onsite activities as well as customers entering and exiting the gated entry. Access to the site would be computer controlled via gate keypads for both entering and exiting. The total approximate square footage of solar covered space is 195,000 square feet providing approximately 500 parking stalls for customers. Rental parking stalls range from 12’x19’ to 12’x60’. Setbacks, parking, building heights, and other zoning parameters are all intended to comply with County standards. Zoning and General Plan: The Project is zoned M-1 with a General Plan designation of General Industrial. The proposed use of RV & Boat storage is not listed in the County’s Municipal Code as a use, however the most comparable use of Public/Mini-storage is listed as a Permitted Use. County Code Section 24-169 lists specific design guidelines for Public/Mini-Storage facilities which the Project will comply with. Solar: The Project will be a state-of-the-art solar generation facility providing renewable power to the residents and business in Chico and Butte County as well as offsetting the Project’s energy use. We anticipate the Project will provide enough renewable energy to power up 2,000 homes in Butte County and the City of Chico annually (approximately 6,000,000kWh per year) with greenhouse gas reductions equivalent to taking 500 cars off the road each year. To accomplish this goal, the Project will provide the solar energy to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) as part of PG&E’s Feed-in-Tariff program. PG&E purchases the solar energy from the Project at a discounted rate and sells this renewable, solar energy directly to the residents and businesses in Butte County and Chico. The Project’s solar initiative is expected to be an iconic development in Butte County and set a trend for other developments to look at solar as a viable option with various applications. Construction: The manager’s office will be traditional wood framed with a stucco exterior. The project will have asphalt paving and metal, solar canopies. The water demand is minimal in comparison to a typical 12acre industrial project. The project is designed to comply with all storm water treatment requirements. Utilities: Due to a lack of public utilities available near the site, The Project will utilize a well and septic system for water and sewer services. The Project will also have an amenity of a dump station for its RV customers, which will be tied to the Project’s septic system. Lighting Wall-mounted lights shall be located below the roofline of the canopies and shall be shielded and downward facing. Biological: The Project had a Biological Site Assessment Study done and identified a seasonal drainage ditch along the North and Eastern property edges. The Project does not propose to perform work in the drainage ditch along the North Property Line which conveys water from under the Oroville-Chico Hwy. Project Maintenance: The Project will be professionally managed by a third party, professional storage management company with maintenance staff to ensure the property is well-kept, clean, secure and in good operating condition. Best practices for maintaining the Project and the solar equipment include routine cleaning of the panels, sweeping of the drive aisles and seasonal preventive measures will be put into place by the Applicant. Traffic: The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Rate Schedule does not specify boat and RV storage trip generation as a use; however, the Applicant has used this method to estimate the Project’s trip generation. Estimated trip generation by using the self-storage trip generation numbers, as this is the closest use, and can be calculated at a rate of 0.26 vehicles for every 1,000 sf. of building area per day. An assumption must be made for a 1:1 ratio of ‘building area’ to ‘covered parking area’. Extrapolating the ITE rate over the 12 hours of operation, the 195,000 square foot covered parking area can expect to have 50 cars per day and 1-2 cars per hour visiting the facility. This translates to 3-4 ‘peak hour’ trips. Typical peak traffic time for a boat and RV facility is morning on the weekends and the average customer stay at the site is approximately 15-30 minutes. Security: The Project has a security gate at the Project’s entry, security cameras and motion-sensor flood lights. Location: Solar Details: The solar project will connect to PG&E’s existing lines that run North-South on Oroville-Chico Hwy. This power will get transmitted to the Butte Bank #2 Substation. There will be roughly 8,000 solar panels installed on-site with roughly 80 micro-inverters. This system is still getting reviewed and approved by PG&E and subject to change but the interconnection is anticipated to be along Oroville-Chico Hwy at one of the poles located along the Project’s frontage. The Project will utilize domestic content, i.e. American Made, materials including US Steel carports and American manufactured solar panels. These specs are subject to change based on availability with US manufacturers. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act has increased the demand for US Made solar products and supply has been a huge issue in this space. We anticipate using these products but if not, we will use similar, US Made panels and inverters. All the solar labor will be union-labor and paid at the current prevailing wage. There is also solar apprentice programs required for these types of projects, which will be implemented, and these provide education for young, new-personnel in the solar world to learn the trade. Examples of Similar Projects owned/developed by Applicant team: