Around 2021, Mark Pahuta put up a video of Super-8 film he shot while in Arcata. The film is dated as being from 1968, but more likely it's from around 1976-1977. FILM and STILL IMAGES of Arcata from that era.
Merritt Perry has been the city manager in Fortuna for more than years. Prior to that he worked as City Engineer and director of Public Works in Fortuna for four years. He became interim City Manager following the resignation (after a second DUI) of former Fortuna city manager and Arcata city councilmember and 3-time mayor Mark Wheetley.
Three videos of the fire from June 19, 2024, in Miami. "I did get a chance to speak to one gentleman who tells me he was actually sleeping at the time. He awoke not because he smelled the smoke, not because he heard the commotion, but because he heard a firefighter knocking at his front door. That's what prompted him to get up, get outside."
The traffic crossings are not safe. IT WILL ONLY TAKE ONE FATALITY to have us wishing that we'd thought about this more and done things differently. WITH PHOTOS of 3D images, models, and flashing beacon lights.
Video and Transcriptions on the Sunset-101 Roundabout discussion. From the City Council meeting, February 21, 2024. "If you can make those changes -- the full separated bike and pedestrian facilities, the additional traffic calming measures, and getting rid of the slip lanes."
The letter that sent to the City Council, to request that the Sunset-101 Interchange funding be removed from the Consent Calendar, so that it can be further discussed. From the letter: "I believe there are unsafe elements to this design -- and that the design can be improved to make it safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. The design is good for vehicle traffic flow -- but not so good for bikes and walkers. My strong concern is that with this design there will be vehicle - bicyclist collisions. *** My concern is that someone will get hurt.***
Here are images of the design of the roundabouts for the multiple-lane intersection of Sunset Avenue, L. K. Wood Boulevard, and the four on-ramps/off-ramps for US Highway 101. The question is: WHERE ARE THE BIKE LANES?
Part 2. The multi-road intersections of Sunset Avenue, L. K. Wood Boulevard, G Street, H Street, and the four on-ramps/off-ramps for US Highway 101 are an acknowledged difficult situation. The solution that's provide is not, in my view, a good solution. I think this design would be the source of all kinds of problems. I believe there must be a better solution for us at this intersection. We can do better.
The letter sent to the City Council. This item was on their agenda for the February 21, 2024 meeting. The overall design of this interchange does not seem safe -- not safe for bicyclists, for pedestrians, and not even safe for cars. WE CAN DO BETTER,
If you tried to watch the live video stream of that May 29th meeting or wanted to review it by video, you may have felt some frustration or confusion. On the live video stream or in the video, we can hear the City Council -- but we couldn't see the Council. Some times for long stretches in the video -- up to 19 minutes in one case -- there is no image of any human being. With a SUGGESTION to correct this.
From the Arcata Fire District May 28, 2024 letter: "We are writing to request that approval of these elements be denied at this time and put on hold until the AP Triton Standard of Coverage (SOC) for the AFPD is completed and the Arcata City Council and AFPD Board of Directors achieve consensus on a plan for the likely expansion of the District's capacity."
To the City Council for the 1st public hearing at the Council on the General Plan, Gateway Area Plan, Gateway Code, and Program Environmental Impact Report. --- "As you must be aware, the Council is in a difficult situation here. You are being asked to approve a set of documents that are incomplete." With 5 very important topics suggested for review, and 5 other lesser but still very significant topics.
THIS NEWSLATTER WAS SENT OUT ON MONDAY, MAY 27, 2024. The two scheduled public hearings with the Arcata City Council take place on Wednesdays -- May 29 and June 5, 2024. If needed, the public hearing meetings will be continued. The City Council will consider, take public comment on, discuss, and perhaps vote to adopt the Gateway Area Plan, the Gateway Zoning Code, the Arcata General Plan 2045, and the Final Environmental Report.
Fresh from 1958, we have The Gateway Singers. Included here is the video and lyrics for "The Ballad of Sigmund Freud." Missing are the Gateway Singers performances of "Let's all Room Together" and "Supply and Demand."
The LU-9 Implementation Measure in the draft General Plan would allow 4 and 5-story buildings in the Bayview, Northtown, Upper I & J Street, and Sunset neighborhoods. A rezoning would allow "Local-serving commercial uses such as corner grocery stores and coffee shops" throughout those neighborhoods.
**** LU-9 does not belong in Arcata's General Plan **** WITH IMAGES OF WHAT COULD BE BUILT.
How many electric vehicle chargers are required for new apartments and non-residential buildings? The quantity is tied to the number of parking spaces that are built. In the Gateway area, the minimum parking required is zero... so there well could be no charging stations there too. ------ This fact sheet summarizes 2022 CALGreen requirements for residential construction, including single-family, multi-family, and hospitality (hotels and motels) facilities, as well as nonresidential new construction.
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.
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.
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?
This is Colin Fiske's suggestions as to parking policies for the General Plan update, from February 11, 2024. We can note that he has written on eliminating the MINIMUM parking requirements -- that is, to have it be that a new apartment is not required to have parking. He does not speak to the MAXIMUM parking that is allowed.
There's a notion that by making it more difficult for people to USE a car, then people won't OWN a car. And perhaps in a mythical future, this may be true. But for now and likely the next 20 or 30 years, people do own cars. And there will need to be a place to park them.
NOW INCLUDES EUREKA COMMUNITY MEETING. Videos made during walkability expert Dan Burden's visit to Humboldt County on July 22-25, 2023. Free events took place in Arcata, McKinleyville, Eureka, and Blue Lake.
The Gateway Area Plan has a maximum number of parking spaces allowed -- either one parking space for every 4 apartment units or one space for every 2 apartment units. The financial lenders and the developers themselves may be unwilling to accept this.
In the Gateway Area, the minimum number of parking spaces required is Zero. That is, if a developer wants to build a 48-unit apartment building, it's possible that there will be no parking spaces for those tenants. But at the same time, there'd be a MAXIMUM of 12 spaces -- even if the apartments had 2 or 3 bedrooms. My guess? Developers will not build by these constrictive rules.
This is the introduction to the lengthy article on the Urban Field Studio "Code Site Test. PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE ALSO. It will take about 30-45 minutes to read. The full article has both critique and support by an expert of the Gateway Plan, and a good Q&A from Arcata's Planning Commissioners.
Here's what they said on parking: "Must ensure that sufficient parking provided for both residents and visitors to and employees of local businesses, given rural nature of area and to ensure that parking doesn’t infringe on nearby/local residential neighborhoods. Don’t presume that students, staff, or residents won’t have cars needing to be parked somewhere. 80% of current students are non-local. " ****
Here's what ended up in the General Plan recommendations: "Ensure adequate parking for local businesses and employees."
During the transition from discussion to final document, it seems that many issues raised by the Economic Development Committee are not included in the final document. Among what is absent was their stance on adequate parking for business and residential purposes. Also: "Don't presume that students, staff, or residents won't have cars needing to be parked somewhere. 80% of current students are non-local."
UPDATED WITH DRAFTS and the August 2, 2022 video ---- The Economic Development Committee's Recommendations for the General Plan update. From their August 2, 2022 meeting.
In the Gateway Plan, if a developer does not want to supply any parking whatsoever for the residents of newly-constructed apartments, that's an option. But if the developer wants to include enough parking spaces to make those apartments be competitive with other apartments in Arcata? Can't do that. The number of parking spaces that can be provided AT A MAXIMUM amounts to one parking space for every 4 to 8 residents.
The Draft Gateway Plan pretends that there will be an increase in on-street parking in the Gateway area. In actuality, there will be 50% or so of current parking spaces. In some blocks, there will be less than 25% of what is there now.
The Gateway code includes a MAXIMUM number of parking spaces at 1 per every 4 units -- which works out to one per every 4 to 8 tenants. A restaurant with a staff of six and hosting 35 or 40 diners would have a MAXIMUM of ONE space. How will this work out for Arcata?
This map provides an orientation for some of the buildings and business locations in the Creamery area. The background is taken from the Draft Gateway Plan, and shows the proposed street parking situation. However, this parking plan is very inaccurate -- it is "high level" and does not incorporate driveway cutouts, business frontages, and other aspects of reality.
8th & 9th Streets are proposed as one-way streets with bike lanes. That sounds good. But it comes with a 30% reduction of parking on those streets. That sounds bad.
New proposed bike lanes for K & L Streets and for 8th & 9th Streets. Could we do without a K Street bike lane and instead keep L Street bikeable, walkable, and protected from vehicle traffic?