Daniel Duncan is a retired contractor and present-time architectural commentator who has lived here in Arcata for over 50 years. His articles on Arcata planning, housing, and design appeared first in the Mad River Union, and now the eighteen articles from 2022 have been collected in his new book. Dan's book is available now at Northtown Books in Arcata and Booklegger in Eureka. The price is $10.

We don’t have to go far to uncover transparency issues. We can look right here at Arcata’s Gateway Plan. Crucial letters from the public about this plan have been hidden. They aren’t seen until after the meeting the letter was written for has passed. Do Arcatans want to see L Street — right next to the Creamery, where we come for festivals and fun — turned into a truck route? I don’t think so. Nor does Arcata’s Transportation Safety Committee. But that committee’s voice likewise has been ignored. --- California’s Brown Act: “The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know.”

A special page for City Council and Planning Commission members -- and a great place for all readers to learn more about the Gateway Plan. This page will be updated regularly. Come back for more!

BROWN ACT VIOLATION --- This memo was submitted to the Planning Commission at the March 14 meeting of the PC. Printed copies were offered to people who were present, but nothing was available to persons who were watching on-line either at that time nor later. --At that meeting, a new Chair and Vice-Chair were elected. The wording of the 1st line "I support Scott Davies as Chair and Dan Tangney as Vice-Chair of the Commission." seems to imply that Commissioner Lehman had advance knowledge that Davies and Tangney would be nominated.

City of Arcata Community Open House - January 21 and 22, 2022 - Feedback results - Collated by Responsible Growth Arcata volunteers, based on photos taken at the end of the event. The overwhelming number of attendees want buildings with no more than four stories.

Danco president Chris Dart and Rural Communities Housing Development director Beth Matsumoto discuss the challenges of creating affordable housing. Chris Dart specifically discusses how buildings over 4 stories are not feasible, and that market-rate non-subsidized housing is a financial impossibility. Hosted by Jane Woodward as an OLLI "Brown Bag Lunch" Zoom presentation. With video and full transcription.

"I’ve owned my home down 11th Street for 36yrs and I am completely against this plan. It’s unimaginable to me that our town needs to build such a huge project, with multiple stories, invading and destroying our quiet family homes, as well as changing our streets to accommodate this nightmare. Build around the university and Samoa Blvd if need be but PLEASE keep it away from the Creamery and our single family homes that we cherish. ----- I’m very concerned at how this plan will drastically affect and change our quiet, beautiful community in a very negative way. Especially towards the Arcata Bottoms. Many of us chose to live here to enjoy our wonderful town away from the university crowds and traffic. Sorrel Place as well as the building across from Co‐op are perfect examples of how atrocious these large multi storied buildings take over the aesthetic and charm of our town."

At the November 8th, 2022, Planning Commission meeting, David Loya acted as though he was familiar with the 2010 City study that proposes what amounts to a linear park on the L Street Corridor. But from his speaking, it was clear he did not know what that study contains. A suggestion to him: Come to the Arcata1.com website and learn.

A 2nd copy of the original July 13, 2022, letter to Parks and Recreation Committee on the need for dedicated parks within the Gateway area -- in particular, playgrounds for children. Request for differentiation between adult recreation (bocce, basketball) and children's playgrounds. Request for differentiation between open space in the form of trails versus open space in the form of parks where people can congregate, sit, and play. Points out falseness of draft plan's “Existing Parks and Recreational Facilities” map.

A citizens' petition to permanently establish the L Street corridor as a Linear Park, creating a walkable quiet open space running the length of the Gateway area.

The Transportation Safety Committee at their September 20, 2022, meeting discussed how the City Council had asked the members to revisit and reconsider the strong recommendation to not construct the L Street - K Street Couplet. Instead, the TSC committee stated, the L Street Corridor should become a permanent Linear Park.

The joint City Council / Planning Commission study session introduced big problems when an elated City Council considered the Transportation Safety Committee's strong recommendation for an L Street Pathway and Linear Park and tossed it out the window -- well, sent it back to the TransSafetyComm for them to review. This presentation was the cause. Is it filled with misleading and possibly false information? Read it, and you decide.

This page contains an assortment of photographs and aerial views of the L Street Pathway area. It will be updated as new images come in, so be sure to check back to see what's new.

It’s a question of priorities. What do we want to see in Arcata? Do we make our roads better for cars, or do we make the Gateway area better for people? Yes, it is that simple.

Buildings heights in the different districts. A new district is proposed, in the Creamery area.

A special page for readers of the Mad River Union and the Northcoast Journal -- and a great place for all readers to learn more about the Gateway Plan. This page will be changed and updated regularly. Come back for more!

The L Street pathway could be a community jewel in the heart of the Gateway area. The City wants it to be a high-traffic road, taking all the southbound car and truck volume from Alliance Road to Samoa Boulevard.

Contains 62 pages of information, collected from people's comments and viewpoints, that the City has not included in their engagement report about the Gateway Plan. Includes the comments on the Post-Its from the two-day January 2022 Open House meeting -- information that the City has been unwilling to assemble and published.

"I’ve owned my home down 11th Street for 36yrs and I am completely against this plan. It’s unimaginable to me that our town needs to build such a huge project, with multiple stories, invading and destroying our quiet family homes, as well as changing our streets to accommodate this nightmare. Build around the university and Samoa Blvd if need be but PLEASE keep it away from the Creamery and our single family homes that we cherish. ----- I’m very concerned at how this plan will drastically affect and change our quiet, beautiful community in a very negative way. Especially towards the Arcata Bottoms. Many of us chose to live here to enjoy our wonderful town away from the university crowds and traffic. Sorrel Place as well as the building across from Co‐op are perfect examples of how atrocious these large multi storied buildings take over the aesthetic and charm of our town."

The Building & Massing Presentation that arrived on August 12 provides so much needed information, along with the first glimpses of the long-awaited 3D modeling. 3: Proposed Setbacks and Massing Impacts

A view of the whole story. In Arcata, California, the Gateway plan calls for 8,000 people, possibly within 8-10 years. This will alter our town forever. Is it feasible?

Sea Level Rise expert Aldaron Laird, Danco president Chris Dart, and the Arcata Fire District Board of Directors, Chief, and Staff all agree -- for three different reasons. ---------- “Gulliver’s Travels” map from 1726 depicts Arcata and the Brobdingnagian Gateway Plan. ---- The Gateway Plan was anticipated in 1943 as: “The can-do spirit of the times that led people to devise a number of illogical schemes that would purportedly solve social and economic ills.”

"Perhaps you can direct staff to hold a series of longer form public workshops to collaborate with citizens on the L and K Street circulation element as there seemed to be traction on developing alternatives, and apparently there are volunteers standing by with unbiased expertise to offer who are willing to dedicate many hours of their time working on details of street layouts." --- " The max building heights currently proposed in each district would allow for the most flexible development options to actually see housing built. As Director Loya pointed out, the market will drive development and there are certain price points that make development feasible. Just like how very few buildings have maxed out the building height allowed under current zoning, the max heights allowed in the proposed plan should be interpreted as leading to a few buildings, if any, using the max height (and those would be a nice fit thanks to the form‐based code and community benefits)."

Reality is that which, when you stop believing it, doesn’t go away. -- Philip K. Dick -------- "The Gateway plan is potentially the biggest change that has ever happened in Arcata. Diligence now will pay off forever. ------ Subjects: 1. The 3D Modeling is here. 2. City Council / Planning Commission Joint Study Session next week. 3. K Street / L Street Couplet Decision. 4. Gateway Plan Advisory Committee. 5. Building Height is not a popularity contest. 6. Soils Testing in the industrial area is a must."