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fredredwoods

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Form-Based Code and Ministerial Review

Commissioners Dan Tangney and Matt Simmons were absent from the Gateway Code review

What was slated to be a "final" review of Arcata's Gateway Area Code took place at the April 23, 2024, Planning Commission meeting. At the previous meeting, Commissioners Dan Tangney and Matt Simmons noted that they would be absent from the April 23rd meeting. The "final" review was scheduled anyway. In this way, the most senior member of the Planning Commission and the current largest individual contributor to the Gateway Area Plan process were shut out of the conversation on the Gateway Code.
Form-Based Code and Ministerial Review

Fred Weis speaks: The Gateway Code is not ready to be called “Final”

The April 23, 2024, meeting of the Arcata Planning Commission had a "final" review of the Gateway Area Code -- the document that defines the "look and feel" of all construction, parks, pathways, and so on that are part of the Gateway Area Plan. In the 3 minutes that are allowed for public comment -- on a document that is going to change the look of Arcata forever -- Fred Weis spoke on how the Gateway Area Code document needs considerable work before it can be considered complete.
Form-Based Code and Ministerial Review

What are the Greenways in the Gateway Code? Are they real?

The "Greenways" section is a highly confusing portion of the the draft Gateway Code. The Code should include this as guidelines for what will happen ("Greenways are required in the approximate locations shown in Figure 2-56."). But what is shown in the Code is clearly 100% overkill -- and some of it is absolutely impossible. The Gateway Code needs to be revised.
Gateway Plan

Another Loya fallacy: “Secured” bike parking within 750 feet

In the draft Gateway Code, a tenant's bike parking could be 750 feet from their apartment -- 2-1/2 blocks away. This is absurd, as the Commissioners pointed out at their April 23, 2024 meeting. Fortunately, the Planning Commissioners accomplished in five minutes what Arcata's Community Development Director David Loya and form-based code consultant Ben Noble could not provide clarity for -- in a year.
David Loya

David Loya’s Misunderstanding: Tenant Bicycle Storage doesn’t have to be Indoors

In the Gateway code, tenant bicycle parking does not have to be indoors. It doesn't even have to be behind a fence. In discussing this with the Planning Commissioners at their April 23, 2024, meeting, the director repeatedly referred to this as inside parking -- within the building. There is nothing in the Gateway Code that says that the secure bicycle storage space has to be inside the building -- or even inside at all.
Affordable Housing

Gateway needs good architects !

Creating affordable housing without government subsidies is not easy. Creating affordable home-ownership is even more difficult. "Missing Middle" housing is what's been declared as sorely absent and hugely desired, all over the country. Kaplan Thompson Architects is in Portland, Maine. They've figure out how to make net-positive energy use affordable rentals, and, very importantly, buildings with home-ownership. Their designs for very-low income and transitional housing are energy-efficient and high-quality.
Community Input

The City Council said “Yes” to the L Street linear park. David Loya tried to defy them.

The City Council requested the L Street corridor full-width linear park. For eight months, Arcata's Community Development Director did nothing. David Loya said, "I understand why it could have been confusing." But the Council's direction was not confusing to anyone but him.
Form-Based Code and Ministerial Review

The Gateway Code: What has been discussed, and what has been forgotten?

There is much in the draft Gateway Code that the Planning Commission never discussed. And there are other topics that indeed were discussed, but the changes that were requested were never included in the Gateway Code. What happened?
Gateway Plan

Appreciation for Judith Mayer, Ph.D., for her seventeen years as a Planning Commissioner

At the City Council meeting on April 17th, Dr. Judith Mayer was honored with a Certificate of Appreciation for her seventeen years of service on Arcata's Planning Commission.  Members of the Community came to issue a standing ovation, showing their respect and appreciation to Dr. Mayer, for all the many ways that she has consciously added to our community. Community gratitude was extended by much clapping, many thankful smiles, and the gift of a large bouquet of flowers.
Form-Based Code and Ministerial Review

Comments and Suggestions for the Gateway Code

Comments and suggestions on the draft Gateway Code. This is the form-based code that defines the look and feel of every building, street, park. and more of everything that will be built in the Gateway area. You can use this document along with the "Guides for the Council, Commission, and Community — to the Gateway Code comments and suggestions" to learn more about developers can and cannot do.
Gateway Plan

Guides for the Council, Commission, and Community — to the Gateway Code comments and suggestions

A guide to the Comments & Suggestions on the draft Gateway from-based Code. Commissioners, Council members, and the community can find what issues with the draft Gateway Plan are important to them. The most glaring omission is the lack of anything in the Gateway Code about the planned L Street Corridor full-width linear park.
Arcata

Arcata Fire District tells the Council: No building permits, no occupancy of 4-story and taller buildings, please

At the April 9, 2024, Arcata Fire District's Board of Directors meeting, the Board discussed and approved a letter to be sent to the Arcata Mayor and Arcata City Council. That letter is re-printed here ----This letter formalizes and re-states what the AFD has been telling the City Council over these past two years. At the current time, the AFD cannot ensure the safety of people living in a building that is over 40 feet tall, which would be a three-story building.
Arcata

Notice of Public Hearing — May 14 — Arcata General Plan Comprehensive Update and Gateway Code

A public hearing on a formal recommendation of the General Plan and the Gateway Area Plan will take place Tuesday, May 14, 2024. You are encouraged to attend and to send your comments and concerns to both the City of Arcata and to Arcata1.com.
Arcata

April 2, 2024 City Council goal-setting study session, with survey results report

The annual City Council goal-setting study session took place on April 2, 2024. This meeting was not televised, available on-line, or video-recorded. There is a rough audio recording, available on Arcata’s website’s meeting calendar page and available here.
Arcata

Video: FM3 sales-tax survey at the Council’s goal-setting session — with questions on building height and parking desired

Here is a video of the presentation from FM3 Research of the question on having a sales-tax increase measure on the November 2024 ballot. Also includes two non-tax-related questions on 7-story building height and street parking.
Gateway Plan

The City of Arcata needs revenue. “Rich Uncle” Cal Poly Humboldt isn’t paying its share.

Cal Poly Humboldt could be contributing a substantial amount to Arcata's costs for police, emergency services, infrastructure, and maintenance. Court cases have ruled that a local university should pay for their share of the costs resulting from university-oriented population.
Arcata

UC Berkeley lawsuit decisions may affect Arcata too

Did UC Berkeley bring in more students than they'd promised? How much should the University contribute to infrastructure costs? And -- is any of this applicable to Cal Poly Humboldt and Arcata ?
City Planning

Four-story hotel approved by David Loya and not approved by the Planning Commission? It’s possible.

According the procedures of the draft Gateway Code, a four-story hotel project with 85 rooms could be approved by a single person -- the Zoning Administrator. As such, the project would never be seen by the Planning Commission. A hotel of this size could, by code, have a parking lot with 3/4 acre of asphalt.
Community Input

Criteria for Zoning Administrator approval be 4,000 sq.ft. — not 40,000 sq.ft.

I propose: that the criteria be much lower for Planning Commission review. Such as: PC review required for anything over 4,000 sq.ft. building area. Or: PC review required for everything (except for the simplest of projects, to be defined). How would this work? The Julian Berg Valley East project took 31 minutes to be approved. If a project is well-designed and adheres to the Form-Based Code, then approval by the Planning Commission would be smooth sailing.
Arcata

The Great Redwood Trail draft Master Plan is here

The Great Redwood Trail is a planned 307-mile long trail system that starts in Blue Lake and runs though Humboldt, Trinity, Mendocino, Sonoma, Marin, and San Francisco counties -- all the way to San Francisco. One hundred miles of the trail is in Humboldt County, and about 11 miles of the trail in the southwest corner of Trinity County. You can view the draft Master Plan for the Great Redwood Trail draft master plan here.
Arcata

FM3 survey: Putting a sales tax increase on the November 2024 ballot, and more

Survey results for the potential sales-tax increase November 2024 ballot measure. Also: How did questions about street parking, parking lots, and 7-story Building Height get onto a survey about potential tax measures? Why does the survey conclude that Street Parking is "low priority" when 85% of the respondents say it is important?
Gateway Plan

Gateway’s “Inclusionary” apartments — How much rent would you be paying?

Under the affordable housing provisions of the Gateway Area Plan, buildings over 14 units are required to have 14% or 16% of the apartments be affordable. But the rent amounts that are proposed wind up being higher than what renters are paying now. How can this be considered as affordable?
April Fools' Day

Barrel-shaped apartments project for Gateway’s Barrel District floats through Planning Commission

In what proved to be a record-setting session, at last week's Planning Commission meeting an amazing 1,825 apartment units were approved in a bit under 45 minutes. The master plan is based on seven identical 7-story barrel-shaped apartment buildings, plus an ark-shaped hotel that serves as the anchor for the project, so to speak. The 300 cubit-long ark hotel (510 feet, in contemporary terms) includes 425 guest rooms,
April Fools' Day

Gateway Area Plan approved at 11th hour; PlanCom, Council, Loya jubilant

With an outpouring of jubilation and champagne, the City Council approved and adopted the Gateway Area Plan just prior to 10:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve, 2024. In a never-before-seen scene set at City Hall, reminiscent of an Arcata version of the warm-hearted ending of the film "It's a Wonderful Life," the entire town rallied behind the promise (or premise) of affordable housing for working people.
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