Representative photo — not the project site.
Multifamily residential
Olive Ranch Apartments
Boundary and ALTA surveys, lot line adjustments, improvement plans and construction staking for a phased affordable apartment community in Oroville.
The project
Olive Ranch Apartments is an affordable rental housing community in Oroville, California, developed in phases at the southwest corner of Table Mountain Boulevard and Grand Avenue, with family apartments and a senior apartment building.
American Engineering provided property and boundary surveys, improvement plans and construction staking for a multifamily builder, plus ALTA surveys and lot line adjustments for multiple phases.
The site lies inside the City of Oroville, between Rio Vista Drive and Table Mountain Boulevard. The community's leasing site lists one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, a community center and rooftop solar panels. It describes the plan this way: residential buildings "will be arranged along an internal loop drive on the site with access from both Rio Vista Drive and Table Mountain Boulevard."
The City of Oroville's project list, updated June 10, 2025, shows three Olive Ranch phases at the corner, each marked "Construction Completed & Occupied": Phase 1 with 81 affordable family units, Phase 2 with 80 affordable family units and Phase 3 with 51 affordable senior units. Side-by-side phases typically share access, parking and utilities, so each must fit the ones around it.
The senior phase also ties the development to wildfire recovery. The state's Disaster Recovery Multifamily Housing Program (DR‑MHP) uses federal grants tied to FEMA declarations DR‑4382 and DR‑4407, the second covering the November 2018 wildfires in Butte County, including the Camp Fire. It funds projects to meet unmet rental housing need, "including the needs of individuals displaced from rental homes and individuals who became homeless as the result of the disasters."
Scope
Our scope
American Engineering's services on Olive Ranch, grouped by step:
Survey the property
- Property and boundary surveys
- ALTA surveys for multiple phases
A boundary survey fixes property lines; ALTA/NSPS land title surveys add the detail lenders and title insurers ask for.
Adjust the parcel lines
- Lot line adjustments for multiple phases
A lot line adjustment moves lines between existing adjoining parcels without creating new ones.
Plan streets, drive aisles and parking
- Apartment complex improvement plans for streets
- Improvement plans for drive aisles
- Improvement plans for parking
Improvement plans are the construction drawings for streets, drive aisles and parking.
Plan water, sewer and storm drain
- Improvement plans for water
- Improvement plans for sewer
- Improvement plans for storm drain
- Improvement plans for storm drain leach trench improvements
Stake the work
- Construction staking
Construction staking sets line and grade in the field from the approved plans.
Technical highlights
How the work fits together
Two illustrative diagrams: how a phased apartment site shares drives and utilities across parcel lines, and how a storm drain leach trench works.
One site, several phases
Phased affordable housing often gives each phase its own financing and ownership, and lenders and title insurers may want a separate ALTA/NSPS survey for each. Drive aisles, parking and utility mains, though, usually serve the whole site. They are planned for full build-out, and where they cross a parcel line they need recorded easements or a joint-use agreement.
A generic phased apartment site, in plan
Illustrative diagram — not to scale
- Where phases sit on separate parcels, a parcel line divides them.
- A shared loop drive with parking bays serves both phases.
- Water (solid blue) and sewer (dark line) mains follow the drive, typically sized for full build-out.
- Storm drain lines (dashed blue) carry runoff from parking-lot inlets to rock-filled leach trenches.
- Where a shared drive or main crosses a parcel line (ringed in red), it needs a recorded easement or joint-use agreement.
How a storm drain leach trench works
A leach trench is a rock-filled trench that lets storm runoff soak into the ground. Inlets collect runoff from paving, a solid pipe carries it to the trench, and a distribution pipe spreads it through drain rock whose voids hold water while it soaks away. The local agency sets the design criteria, and they vary; see how leach trenches are typically sized.
A storm drain leach trench, in section
Illustrative diagram — not to scale
- A catch basin collects runoff from the paving; its sump lets sediment settle before water reaches the rock.
- A solid storm drain pipe carries the water to the trench.
- A distribution pipe spreads water through drain rock wrapped in filter fabric; the voids between rocks store it.
- A riser gives access to inspect and clean the pipe.
- Water soaks into native soil. The trench bottom is kept a required distance above seasonal high groundwater.
Typical considerations on phased multifamily sites
- One survey basis for every phase
When phases are designed and built in different years, one survey control network and boundary basis typically carries through all of them, so each later phase ties exactly to the work already in place.
- Mains sized for build-out
Water, sewer and storm drain mains and stubs are typically sized for the whole site, so later phases connect without cutting into paving in occupied ones.
- Leach trench design inputs
Leach trench design typically starts from soil testing at trench depth, under criteria the local agency sets. Designs keep separation from seasonal high groundwater and foundations, and add pretreatment to keep sediment out of the rock.
- Staking beside occupied buildings
When a later phase is built beside occupied buildings, staking typically means protecting control points, working around residents and traffic, and keeping stakes in place through grading and utility work.
Permits & funding
Regulatory and funding context
The first three records describe the development; the last is the city's general stormwater permit, shown as background. None of them describes American Engineering's scope.
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CTCAC · CA-20-102 / CA-20-103
Housing tax credits for the family phases
Staff reports the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee issued in October 2020 cover Phases I and II: new construction in three residential buildings each, for large families earning 30 to 60 percent of area median income. The City of Oroville reviewed the site and "strongly supports this project."
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CTCAC · multi-phase condition
Shared facilities across phases
Both reports note that Phases I and II are adjacent and will share community space, facilities and services: "Prior to the start of construction all agreements necessary to ensure access to, and the free use of, the shared community space/facilities, parking, and services shall be in place," with a joint use agreement due at the placed-in-service submission.
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HCD · DR-MHP
Disaster-recovery funding for the senior phase
The California Department of Housing and Community Development approved a Notice to Proceed for Olive Ranch Senior Apartments on March 10, 2022, through the County of Butte. It describes 51 units for seniors 55 and older, including a manager's unit, in one three-story building, with infrastructure including "curbing, gutters, sidewalks, storm drains, street lighting and signage."
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Order WQ 2013-0001-DWQ
City stormwater permit
The City of Oroville is a permittee under the State Water Board's Phase II Small MS4 General Permit. Under it, projects that create or replace 5,000 square feet or more of impervious surface are Regulated Projects, which must use site design, source control, runoff reduction and treatment measures known as Low Impact Development.
Rules vary by agency and site. Lot line adjustments are approved by the local agency under Government Code §66412(d).
Services used on this project
Sources
Public records and agency pages behind the project context above. The scope section describes American Engineering's own work.
- Residential & Commercial Project List, updated June 10, 2025 (archived copy) (City of Oroville, via Internet Archive)
- Olive Ranch Apartments leasing site (Olive Ranch Apartments)
- Olive Ranch Apartments, Oroville (way 1459753177) (OpenStreetMap)
- Project Staff Report CA-20-102, Olive Ranch Apartments Phase I (October 14, 2020) (California Tax Credit Allocation Committee)
- Project Staff Report CA-20-103, Olive Ranch Apartments Phase II (October 14, 2020) (California Tax Credit Allocation Committee)
- California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (California State Treasurer)
- DR-MHP Notice to Proceed 21-DRMHP-21009-NTP2, Olive Ranch Senior Apartments (California Department of Housing and Community Development)
- DR-MHP Master Standard Agreement 21-DRMHP-21009, Amendment 2, County of Butte (California Department of Housing and Community Development)
- California Wildfires (DR-4407-CA) (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
- Phase II Small MS4 General Permit, Order WQ 2013-0001-DWQ (conformed), including Attachment A (State Water Resources Control Board)
- Government Code §66412 (lot line adjustments) (California Legislative Information)
Last reviewed .