YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - This year's third Quarterly Economic Development update is all good news.

“It's crazy to me that we are already at the third quarter but here we are,” said Ashley Potocnik, development liaison, to Mayor Shon Harris and the Yuba City Council at the first town hall meeting of the month on Oct. 1.

Before presenting, Potocnik said all the updates are posted online, making the city's progress available through a QR code that sends residents to the website with information.

Divisions of economic development include building, housing, planning, public works and code enforcement.

“A big portion of these updates are in alignment with 'You Can,' the city's initiative to benefit the business community and build economic vitality within the community,” Potocnik said.

Next came the You Can Development 101 series slide, pointing out how infrastructure starts with an idea and ends as a licensed building. Potocnik said the same information was shared with local business owners and developers at a quarterly workshop luncheon.

“The purpose of this is to explain a somewhat complicated process and put it into a very simplified four-step approach,” Potocnik said, holding up printed materials, also available on the website.

Starting with the preliminary review, “where you are kind of making your plan,” Potocnik said planning and entitlement comes next.

“That is when you get your discretionary approval or come before the council or the Planning Commission for your project,” Potocnik said, noting the building permit is when you get the chief official to construct whatever you want to build. “Then you get your business license and open.”

While it sounds easy, Potocnik said it cannot be, which is why she is there to help business owners and the public through the process.

You Can Development 101 offers a new map dotted with iconic restaurants, hotels and specialty coffee shops.

“It shows which locations are, so if you hear about subdivisions or different businesses, it is nice to be able to pinpoint it,” Potocnik said of commercial and residential development here.  “We will be providing copies and posting them on the city's social media.”

Potocnik used Harter Marketplace as an example of one development phase with pictures of workers dressed in fluorescent safety vests and hardhats at Raising Cane's and Dutch Bros construction sites.

Potocnik said the adjacent ARCO is pending in the permit phase. The development liaison said a recent mayor's bus tour offered officials behind the scenes at Dutch Bros.

Simultaneously, housing development is up significantly.

“We are projected to double our single-family housing numbers from last year,” the development liaison said.

Another major project out of development services is Yuba City's General Plan Update, a framework to guide the city, according to Potocnik, noting the refresh of the two-decade-long plan developed in 2004.

Planning entitlements under review include Dean Ranch, a 23.36-acred mixed-use development proposed as a senior housing project with different assistance levels. The other two projects under review are the Sutter County Superintendent of Schools Building, a 38-thousand-square-foot facility, and the Brownstone Estates, up to 7.84 acres, including 54 single-family homes.

Potocnik pointed out the Dean Ranch possibilities. 

“Think of potential medical offices right there at the housing area so it is all walkable,” Potocnik said.

Approved planning entitlements include Butte Vista East, 8.04 acres of 37 single-family homes; Johnson Ranch, 15.84 acres of 82-single family homes; and Newkom Ranch South, 54.74 acres of 234 residential lots.

Finishing up with public works and code enforcement, Potocnik pointed out unseen underground projects, including extending wastewater and service lines.

“Please feel free to reach me if you have questions about what is going on in Yuba City,” Potocnik said of her contact information available on the website through the QR code.