Many Quincy residents have noticed an active construction site on Lee Road near the veterinarian’s office in East Quincy. The site is slated to become a new California Highway Patrol office serving Plumas and Sierra counties.
This new building will replace an outdated facility on Quincy’s Main Street. It no longer meets the needs of CHP staff or emergency responses, said CHP Lt. Ryan Pedersen. The new office on Lee Road will have expanded space for multiagency use in disasters, act as a local training space for new academy graduates and expand Plumas County CHP’s capacity as a 24-hour response facility.
Current facility inadequate
CHP’s current office is outdated and insufficient for community needs, Pedersen said. The space is too small, with limited parking for both staff and officers, and limited overall workspace. It also offers no space to serve patrons, host public and press briefings, coordinate with partner agencies, store necessary emergency response equipment or perform in-house maintenance on CHP vehicles, he said. In winter, equipment needed for snow management cannot be stored or maintained at the current office, creating additional operational and logistical challenges.
The new CHP office will be situated on a 5-acre parcel off Lee Road. The 26,000-square-foot building represents a significant increase from the roughly 6,000 square feet of the current office. The site will include an attached auto service facility, allowing CHP to fuel and maintain vehicles on site. Additional features include a communications tower, which will be available for community use, and an emergency generator. It has been designed to meet modern Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility and seismic safety standards, and it incorporates water-efficient systems, solar panels and other elements required under the state’s current green-building standards.
The new East Quincy location is intended to serve as a central hub for emergency response and interagency coordination throughout the two counties, particularly during severe weather events, wildfire and other emergencies.
The project has been in planning for roughly 10 years, said Pedersen. That was when the state acquired the 5-acre parcel. New construction for state-operated buildings follows a hierarchical approval process, with project prioritization determined by the state of California. Plumas County was identified for CHP upgrades years before construction began, Pedersen said. Construction began in September 2025, with CHP staff and officers expected to occupy the site in September 2027.
New CHP training facility
In June 2025, CHP staffing in Plumas County included 19 officers. Pedersen said that significantly limits safety enforcement. The standard staffing allocation for the size and population of Plumas County is 25 officers. The Plumas-Sierra CHP area has operated below that level since 2020, largely due to COVID-era hiring shortages. By June 2026, staffing is expected to increase to 30 officers, said Pedersen.
The new facility will allow local CHP to remain fully staffed while offering training to new academy graduates specific to rural areas. Many new officers arrive without experience driving in snow, ice, heavy rain, high winds, curved roads, rockfalls and other mountain roadway challenges, said Pedersen.
Roadways entering and exiting communities like Quincy are considered “destination” routes, where visiting tourists are often unfamiliar with local driving conditions. The larger team will be better able to support enforcement during peak travel and visitation months, Pedersen said.
In addition to sworn officers, the new CHP office will support additional nonuniform local positions. CHP currently employs four maintenance and operations staff responsible for day-to-day facility operations. These positions handle building upkeep, logistics and administrative functions that allow officers to focus on public safety duties. Officials said the department may ask for an additional maintenance position.
Increase in traffic tickets, fines?
The Quincy-based CHP is responsible for approximately 24,000 residents. In 2025, it recorded 268 crashes and five collision-related fatalities in its patrol area. That’s far higher than is acceptable for the population, Pedersen said. He added that these incidents are largely due to speeding and distracted driving.
Due to this relatively high accident rate, the Plumas-Sierra CHP is focused on enforcing speeding, improper seat belt use, distracted driving and pedestrian safety. The goal for Plumas CHP is collision reduction, not punishment, said Pedersen. “We will be more assertive when it comes to speeding, improper seat belt use and distracted driving.”
This could mean an increase in traffic tickets and fines for local residents as well as tourists visiting the area, he said.
Community response
Some community members have questioned state funding priorities, including why a new CHP facility is moving forward while local schools also face facility needs. To learn more about community concerns, The Plumas Sun spoke with Supervisors Jeff Engel and Mimi Hall, who represent the county’s third and fifth districts, respectively.
Local government has no control over CHP or its decision to construct a new office, Hall said. “The new CHP facility is exempt from local zoning and taxes because it is a state facility,” she said. Much of the public concern stems from misunderstandings about the limits of county government influence, she added.
Engel stated that he has received little opposition to the project and sees the larger facility as a benefit to the community. “I’ve always backed law enforcement,” he said, agreeing that the existing CHP office is too small to meet current needs. Engel described increased CHP presence as a positive step for public safety. Concerns about overenforcement have not been raised with him, he said. Engel also acknowledged a desire among residents for continued attention to impaired driving enforcement.
Limited environmental impact anticipated
The California Highway Patrol completed a California Environmental Quality Act review for the Quincy Area Office Replacement Project in February 2019. The initial study concluded the project would not result in significant environmental damage if appropriate measures are taken.
Environmental impact studies encompass a diverse range of potential impacts including visual impacts; air quality impacts; biological, cultural or tribal impacts; as well as traffic and noise impacts. According to the project’s environmental review, “the CHP area office would be visible to nearby businesses, passerby motorists and residents,” but “the facility would be generally consistent in character with nearby industrial facilities to the west of the project site and public facilities to the south.” While the report states that the new project will not obstruct aesthetic value, Hall said she has received feedback from neighbors that the building may obstruct valley views. The CEQA report’s other major area of concern involved air quality impacts during construction. Dust control and limits on equipment and vehicle use during construction could mitigate these effects.
The environmental review did not identify significant potential impacts for greenhouse gas, wildlife, plants, wetlands or other critical habitat. Historical, archaeological and tribal impacts were also found to be less than significant, and consultation with local tribes identified no cultural resource at the site. The area is not rated as prime farmland, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Web Soil Survey.
‘Transparency and engagement‘
CHP officials said the goal of the new facility and officer expansion is to improve community safety and ensure sufficient resources to serve the public effectively. The new East Quincy facility reflects the department’s ongoing commitment to being an active and engaged part of the community while improving safety, response times and emergency coordination throughout Plumas County, said Pedersen.
“While this represents a shift within our department, we are grateful for the professionalism, motivation and commitment of our newer officers,” Pedersen said. “They are eager to learn, well-supported and fully capable of carrying out the CHP mission to provide the highest level of traffic safety and service to the motoring public and the communities we serve.” He encourages residents to continue asking questions and engaging in dialogue as the project moves forward, and said he is committed to transparency and engagement.
