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Dear Mayor Schaefer, Vice Mayor Matthews and City Council members,
I respectfully request that you thoughtfully consider the issues of that are of greatest concern to Arcata residents at this
evening’s joint study session for the Gateway Area Plan (GAP). The issues that have come up the most often at past
meetings and public forums are building heights, the L Street Linear Park, and inclusionary zoning for affordable
housing.
The L Street Linear path is a community treasure that we’d like to preserve. Please, let’s not ruin it with a truck route
running alongside it in order to make K Street safe. What we envision is a full‐width linear park where people can safely
walk, bike and run in a peaceful setting.
There’s no question that the safety on K Street needs to be improved. But we can do that right now with traffic calming
measures, and by taking out the parking on both sides of the road, especially on the east side. Coming from the Coop
heading North or South, it’s so hard to see what’s coming at you due to the cars parked on the east side. And it’s not safe
for pedestrians or bicycles either. Please focus on that, rather than opting to destroy the L Street linear path with a truck
route.
The open house that was held in January 2022 was the best attended public engagement event regarding the Draft GAP
(at 170 people). The greatest issue of concern for most of the attendees had to do with the building heights. The general
consensus was that four stories (or less) should be the maximum height in keeping with the character of our town.
The Arcata Fire District has also warned that they do not have the funding, adequate staffing or trained personnel, nor a
ladder truck to fight fires in tall buildings. While they are working with the City and Cal Poly to address this, we need to
have a plan in place before we start planning for any building over three stories (the height that our fire dept can
handle). Keep in mind that staffing is generally precarious in this county, whether it’s for our fire department, the police,
hospitals, social workers, etc. That issue is not so easily resolved. And taxpayers are really feeling the pinch from the cost
of living crisis, whether it’s for food, gas, rents, utilities, etc. So we may be looking at any proposed tax hikes with a far
more critical eye than in the past.
Finally, if we want to build equity into the Gateway Plan, the percentage for inclusionary zoning (for affordable units) is much too low at 3% to 5%. I can’t get behind the GAP Plan at all if it’s just going to be mostly market rate housing. That’s a plan for gentrification, not equity. I do understand about Density Bonus Law, and the pressure from the State.
However, we don’t need a gentrification plan (i.e. the GAP) to start building affordable housing that fits in with the character of our town. Please do what you can to ensure that this is an equitable plan and not a recipe for gentrification.
Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully,
Nancy Pelletier
2
Arcata resident