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Note:  This article is being “bumped up” with a more recent date. The original article was from November 12, 2023. Because of the importance in recognizing what the “Infill Opportunity Zones” are, this article will continue to be bumped up so that is seen as being current.

The full “City of Arcata Housing Element – 6th Cycle – 2019-2027” can be seen here on Arcata1.com.

The 2019 Housing Element was the starting document for this current cycle of new development in Arcata. Policy HE-6 states:

We’ll note what this says:

• Infill development in a way that allows for gradual, rather than drastic, changes from surrounding development density or type.
• Gradual increases in building height.
• Functional open space, well-designed landscaping and natural vegetation.

Unfortunately, that is not what is being proposed (as of November 2023) for City development.

For the November 15, 2015, City Council meeting, the proposal was made to take the policies being developed — and still in process, so not completely known — for Arcata’s Gateway Area Plan… and extend them to be applicable throughout Arcata.

Notable policies in the Gateway Area Plan — policies that would, if this were enacted, be extended citywide — are provisions for up to 7-story high buildings and a parking requirement of zero spaces for apartments.

In its current working draft, the Gateway Area Plan has disregarded the guidelines that previously were expected to be in effect. Specifically, as listed in the 2019 Housing Element, these ingredients for proper planning have been tossed out the window:

• Gradual, rather than drastic, changes from surrounding development density or type.
  See: Will upper floor step-backs vanish from the Gateway Code? and Councilmembers, Commissioners: What do we want our buildings to look like?
• Building separations. Instead, zero setbacks along property lines.
• Functional open space. See: The Myth of “Privately-Owned Publicly-Accessible” Open Spaces

What are the “Infill Opportunity Zones” ?

In the staff report for the November 15 meeting, Arcata’s Community Development Director refers to the City’s four “Infill Opportunity Zones” as identified in the 2019 Housing Element. As he put it in that staff report, “These infill zones were areas designated for high-density redevelopment to help meet the housing objectives the City has.”

These are four areas that were identified during the creating of the 2019 Housing Element that could, in theory, support infill development of housing. They are areas in: Downtown, the Gateway area (roughly west of K Street to O and Q Streets, from Samoa Boulevard to Alliance Road; about 70 blocks), the Craftsman Mall area, and sections of Valley West.

Since these zones were made, the main infill area in the Craftsman Mall zone was acquired for Cal Poly Humboldt development of 7-story and 6-story dorm buildings. That large opportunity for Arcata housing development no longer exists. The map and the Housing Element have not been updated to reflect this change.

Where in Downtown Arcata are there possibilities for any large infill development of housing?

When you look at it, downtown Arcata seems pretty much filled in already. Among the opportunities is a reconfiguration of the parking lots surrounding the Uniontown (Safeway) shopping center. (For one imagining of how this might be designed, see the student project from 2020, Uniontown Revisioning: Put housing over CVS and Safeway here on Arcata1.com.) There are some small parcels south of the Safeway parcel that could see some development, but not much room for anything substantial there.

Another possible redevelopment site is the old Fairwinds Motel, at 17th & G in Northtown — but that is north of what’s shown in this Downtown infill zone.

It may seem odd to designate all of Downtown Arcata as an “Infill Opportunity Zone” but that’s the way it is in the Housing Element.

For redevelopment to occur, wherever it might be, the landowner has to be interested and willing, of course. The City can do planning, but cannot coerce a property owner to either develop or sell the property, unless legal eminent domain processes are involved.

Where are the “Infill Opportunity Zones” ?

The Community Development Director declined to provide a map if these “Infill Opportunity Zones” in his staff report. It also is referred to in the working draft of the Land Use Element of the General Plan update — 15 times it’s referred to — and the map is not yet in the Land Use Element either.

The map can be found on Page 95 of the 218-page “City of Arcata Housing Element Appendices” document, of the 2019 Housing Element. 

The full “City of Arcata Housing Element – 6th Cycle – 2019-2027” can be seen here on Arcata1.com.

Here is the Craftsman Mall infill opportunity zone. The large parcel in the center that is light purple was acquired for Cal Poly Humboldt development of 7-story and 6-story dorm buildings. That large opportunity for Arcata housing development no longer exists. 

Below is from the map in the 2019 Housing Element. This area with small modifications is now called the Gateway Area. Note the dotted blue line — this is the border of the Coastal Zone. Development to the south and west of this dotted line is subject to Coastal Zone approval.

Downtown Arcata. Note the dotted blue line — this is the border of the Coastal Zone. Development to the south pf this dotted line is subject to Coastal Zone approval.
In the new Gateway Area district, the Gateway area extends along Samoa to the east (right) of what’s shown, for those 3 blocks between Samoa and 5th, between F and I Streets — that is, the bottom 3 blocks that are shown in the Downtown zone in this map.

In the PDF viewer below, you can use the + and – keys to zoom in and out, to view more detail. 

From the 2019 Housing Element

Appendix, page 94.

Potential Infill Opportunity Zones

By increasing the density of local zoning and reducing requirements and barriers to development in areas with the potential for infill development, the City can target higher-density development to priority areas for affordable housing. The City has identified four neighborhoods whose current mix of uses present opportunities for infill development, though some sites would require rezoning. As shown in Figure A4-3, potential sites include a number of industrial and commercial sites (as well as low- and medium-density residential in the Craftsman Mall site) that can be rezoned for mixed -use, infill development, that includes housing.

• Offering concessions;
• Up-zoning;
• Rezoning; and
• Encouraging use of the Density Bonus and other incentives.