Tap / click here for more than two dozen articles about the Gateway Code. 

It is my view, as I’ve said many times, that the Gateway Code is poorly-written, shows a lack of attention to important details, is not well thought-through, and is in great need of a careful going over.

 

The input from Commissioners Tangney and Simmons is very much missed. 

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, on April 9, Commissioners Dan Tangney and Matt Simmons noted  that they each would be absent from the April 23rd meeting.

In earlier discussions on the Gateway Code, Commissioners Tangney and Simmons both had been sharp observers of many facets of the Code, and had offered many useful comments. Throughout the development of the General Plan updates, the Gateway Area Plan, and the Gateway Code, Commissioner Simmons has always been a large contributor of suggestions for improvements, second only to former Planning Commissioner Judith Mayer.

Even though these two Commissioners had announced that they would not be at the April 23rd meeting, the Planning Commission Chair, Scott Davies, and the Community Development Director, David Loya, opted to have the “final” review of the Gateway Code on the agenda for that date.

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.

Unless the Planning Commissioners determine that further meetings are needed to improve and complete the Gateway Code, we may never hear from Commissioners Tangney and Simmons.

It is my view, as I’ve said many times, that the Gateway Code is poorly-written, shows a lack of attention to important details, is not well thought-through, and is in great need of a careful going over. The input from Commissioners Tangney and Simmons is very much missed.