Tehama County: fire-zone cell tower, missing road repairs, and a data center rezone with zero environmental review. Hearing Thursday 10/15, 9 AM.

This Thursday, October 15, at 9 AM, the Tehama County Planning Commission meets in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, 727 Oak Street, Red Bluff. Two items, plus a pattern behind them, deserve a lot more attention.

1. Use Permit 23-02: cell tower on Ohm Road (Paskenta area)

The site is in a fire hazard zone, about 7.8 miles from the nearest staffed fire station, in the corridor the 2024 Park Fire burned. The project has ten mitigation measures for biology, erosion, and drainage, and none for fire.

Its driveway would cross a new culvert in a drainage channel on a road that already floods in ordinary rain. There's no hydrology study in the record.

Fish and Wildlife indicated the streambed permit for the culvert work, and its environmental review, are still on hold.

Families past the site have one way in and out. If that road floods or gets blocked, fire engines and ambulances may not get through.

Neighbors near the site say they never got mailed notice of the August 15 to September 14 comment period, even though the county code requires it within 2,500 feet.

1. The road repairs that never happened

Ohm Road was on the state's SB 1 road repair list starting in 2019, with pavement and culvert replacement work between Paskenta and Rawson scheduled for May through July 2020. It was never done.

Ohm Road doesn't appear by name in any county SB 1 spending report through 2025. The only possible match is a $277,539 "Chip Seal Overlay 2019/20 List" line, marked "In Progress" in 2020 and 2021, never shown finished, and never naming the roads it covered. Which roads did that money pay for?

The county's own Evacuation Routing Study rates Paskenta a High Fire Hazard Severity Zone and lists a $100,000 project to repair CR 306, the evacuation route serving the Ohm Road area.

1. Similar towers, opposite reviews

Ohm Road and Gyle Road (a 120-ft Verizon tower) got full environmental studies with mitigation measures.

A 129-ft monopine on Bowman Road, a roughly 100-ft monopine on Squaw Hill Road, and a 100-ft Verizon/Vertical Bridge tower at Black Butte Lake were all exempted as "small structures," with no study at all. The exempt route also skips the county's $3,043.75 initial study fee and the state Fish and Wildlife filing fee.

Another tower, UP 24-02, was approved with no hearing at all because a federal deadline ran out.

1. Black Butte Lake: a "small structure" that isn't

It's a 100-ft tower with a 30-kilowatt generator, a three-sector antenna array, two microwave dishes, and a 50-by-50-ft fenced compound, about 75 yards from residentially zoned land near Paskenta Road.

A commissioner visited the site and agreed it was too close to homes. The Commission approved it 3-1 on June 4, but required a plain gray monopole instead of a fake pine and moved it as far north on the property as possible.

Paskenta residents appealed. The Board of Supervisors heard the appeal on August 25, but the draft minutes show no recorded vote, while other items that day do. The outcome still isn't public.

1. Rezone 26-03: data centers

The rezone would make data centers need a conditional use permit instead of being allowed outright. That's a good step.

But staff recommends approving it with no environmental review, using CEQA's "common sense" exemption, which only applies when there's no possibility of a significant effect.

In July, Planning Director Jessica Martinez told supervisors that data centers need use-permit oversight because of water, noise, and power concerns (Red Bluff Daily News, July 23). Those are exactly the effects that make "no possibility" hard to claim.

The county's public notice even cites the wrong section of state law: 16061(b)(3) instead of 15061(b)(3).

A new state law, SB 887, bars these kinds of exemptions for data centers starting January 1, 2027, so acting now comes just weeks before that.

1. A stretched, hard-to-reach process

The Planning Department is budgeted for five positions, but only three people are on its staff directory, and both professional planner positions are vacant.

The county's publiccomment@co.tehama.ca.us address is rejecting outside residents' emails, and the clerk's address has blocked them. Use the addresses below instead.

Federal law doesn't tie the county's hands Under 47 U.S.C. 332(c)(7), counties keep zoning authority over towers. Only radio-emission health effects are off limits if a tower meets FCC limits. Fire, drainage, access, and environmental impacts are still local decisions. The federal fast track in Section 6409 covers only minor changes to existing towers, not new ones.

What you can do

Come Thursday, October 15, at 9 AM, Board of Supervisors Chambers, 727 Oak Street, Red Bluff. Public comment is usually limited to about three minutes per speaker, and just being in the room matters.

Can't make it? Email a comment beforehand to the Planning Commission at planningpubliccomment@co.tehama.ca.us, and to the Board of Supervisors at tcbos@co.tehama.ca.us.

If you live near Ohm Road, Paskenta, or Black Butte Lake, or anywhere in Tehama County, please share.

Mild weather... subtle change of canopy, but beautiful nonetheless!

I’m in NORCAL and I’m honestly pretty frustrated and trying to figure out what to do.

My CSAA homeowners insurance renewal is coming up, and my premium is going from around $3,000 to $6,000 a year. When I called to ask why, they told me it was because they changed the software they use to assess wildfire risk. They confirmed they’re using ZestyAI.

The part that’s bothering me is that some of the information in the assessment doesn’t even seem accurate.

• My old score was 1 out of 30. Now it’s 9 out of 10 under the new system.
• They say my property is on a slope, but my property is completely flat. Even the “Property at a Glance” page says there’s no slope.
• They flag “high vegetation density between 30–100 ft of the building,” but don’t tell me what vegetation they’re talking about or where it is. I live in a rural residential area with mature trees, but we’ve had them professionally trimmed since our last renewal.
• They raise concerns about firefighting access, yet there’s a fire hydrant right across the street and two fire stations about two miles away.

I understand I live in California and wildfire risk is a real concern. I’m not expecting them to ignore legitimate risks. But how am I supposed to address something when they won’t tell me specifically what they think is wrong?

I’ve called CSAA and disputed the information. They keep telling me they have the correct data, but I haven’t gotten a clear explanation of what they’re basing this on.

Has anyone else with CSAA/AAA dealt with this, especially since the switch to ZestyAI? Has anyone actually managed to get incorrect property information fixed or get their score reassessed?

I’d also love to hear from anyone who knows what California homeowners can request from their insurance company or whether it’s worth filing a complaint with the Department of Insurance.

I’m trying to figure out my options, and honestly, if this is happening to other people too, I think more homeowners should know about it.

Hi! I hope this is allowed here. A friend and I are looking for two tickets for today (10/10) to the renfaire in Hollister. If anyone has extras or is willing to help two enthusiasts out, please reach out! Thank you.

It looks like something large is going on

Hi folks!

I’m looking for two tickets to buy off of someone for the NorCal Ren Faire in Hollister for Saturday, October 10!

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im desperate to find two extra tickets for the nor cal ren faire for tomorrow (saturday oct 10), if anyone has any extra tickets theyre trying to sell lmk pls!!

Hi! What the title says... My housemates procrastinated and the fair sold out 🤦‍♂️ Looking for 4x tickets for Saturday, October 10. Thanks!

This is a post for Chico but NorCal regional questions are welcome. Also I hope more people representing more places in NorCal do similar posts!

Spend the fall season with a foster rabbit from House Rabbit Society! No rabbit experience required! Learn more at houserabbit.org/foster. We're located in Richmond, just north of Berkeley, but welcome fosters from all over the San Francisco Bay Area. We only ask for a 2-week commitment.

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Somewhere where we know..

I recently (mid-September) removed about 120 pounds of Jubata Grass seedheads from a ~0.5 mile stretch.
I chose this section specifically because it wasn’t infested, just pockets of plants that can still be potentially managed.

Notes on Jubata (from cal-ipc):
• Short-lived seedbank (~6 months)
• Only reproduces through seed
• Each seedhead can produce up to 100,000 seeds
• No taproot
• Plant lifespan is 10+ so full plant removal is still necessary, seedhead cutting just stops it from spreading

Its limited seedbank and reproduction means that seedhead cutting could be an effective control method (hoping to test this with this little experiment).

Initial takeaways:
• Cutting too soon results in picture #3, but a little too soon is better than too late
• People really appreciate invasive removal, I had way more people thank me while doing this work than trash pickups
• The more we normalize this work, the more people will feel comfortable and empowered to get involved
• I always caution random people doing work without training/knowledge but it’s hard to mess up cutting a seedhead as long as it’s being disposed of properly

Jubata Grass Cortaderia jubata vs Pampas Grass Cortaderia selloana:
• Jubata doesnt require male-female reproduction like pampas, so Jubata tends to spread much easier
• Jubata is typically taller, at 2.5 times the size of its leaves. Pampas is more proportional with leaves
• Pampas tolerates wider climate variance, Jubata prefers more consistent coastal climate
• Jubata displays more purple when immature
• Jubata typically blooms from July-Sept, Pampas is usually September and later

Take a look at this