The following article appeared in the May 24, 2023, edition of the Mad River Union.
Don’t know much about Geography
Don’t know much Trigonometry
Don’t know much about Algebra
Don’t know what a slide rule is for
But I do know one and one is two
And if this one could be with you
What a wonderful world this would be
— Sam Cooke, 1960
[To hear this song and read about its history, click here.]
Now at eighteen months from the introduction of the Draft Gateway Area Plan, the wonderful world that was promised by the plan seems ever more unlikely.
If the Gateway Plan is not going to provide actual affordable housing for the people who need it, then who exactly benefits?
Who is this housing for?
I refer to that wonderful world of “thousands of housing units that are environmentally sustainable and affordable to people in all income ranges” and “a broad range of housing densities and types, including rental and owner‐occupied options” that is promised on the opening page of the Draft Plan and continued in that theme throughout the document.
Let’s look at what’s been ignored over these past eighteen months.
- Don’t know much about Geography.
Construction in the low-elevation Barrel District may be impossible because of sea level rise and unstable soils. Cost of foundations, emerging groundwater, and Coastal Commission concerns would also seal its fate. If the Coastal Commission rejects residential construction within their jurisdiction, the borders of the Gateway districts would have to be realigned and the entire plan re-submitted. A Commissioner’s proposal to align those borders to match Arcata’s coastal zone has gone unheeded. - Don’t know much about Trigonometry.
The tall buildings proposed in the plan throw shade, and in the winter months the low angle of the sun makes that shade extreme. Are we giving careful consideration to the consequences of these tall buildings? After all this time, the impacts and potential solutions for solar shading have yet to be discussed.
And how about Housing?
- Don’t know much about Algebra.
Housing that’s affordable for working Arcatans — and opportunities to build wealth by owning, not renting. How about those promises? The Planning Commission considered making a sub-committee to study this and to discuss possibilities with experts. But none of that has happened.
The primary purpose of the Gateway Plan is to provide housing. Let’s look at what Community Development Director David Loya has to say.
- Quote: “How we tie that to housing affordability is by producing enough supply so that we can disrupt that market factor.”
The notion that an increased amount of apartments will “disrupt the market” is a myth. To disrupt the market and cause rents to go lower requires an oversupply. When would there possibly be an oversupply of housing in Arcata? On Foster Avenue, 182 apartments were built and rent prices didn’t go lower. Instead, rents went up.
- Quote: “But the for-sale market is highly likely to be built directly in the gateway area. This is particularly true of taller buildings that will take advantage of providing high-income housing on the upper floors of buildings. The higher sales prices will help these projects pencil.”
Director Loya is saying that high-priced upper-floor condos will allow lower-floor rental housing to exist. No guarantee that the rents on those lower-floor units will actually be affordable, of course.
- Quote: “The single-family housing stock currently in the student housing market will become less attractive as an investment asset, and those homes will open to the for-sale market.”
Please, these are not single-family homes in the “student housing market.” We’re talking about losing houses rented by people of all ages, family types, and professions. Removing houses from the rental market makes our housing crisis worse.
Cal Poly Humboldt is putting up 430 students in local motels. By 2025 there will be University-owned housing for 4,100 students – and that’s after the 964 bed Craftsman Mall dorm is complete. But by then there’s projected to be over 9,100 students. That’s a shortage of perhaps 5,000 beds for students.
Can you possibly imagine an oversupply of housing in Arcata — ever? Director Loya’s claims are not supported by evidence or fact.
- Don’t know what a slide rule is for.
The Planning Commissioners showed how simple improvements on K Street will allow wider sidewalks, improved bike lanes, and safer pedestrian crossings – right now, and not having to wait for the Gateway Plan to be adopted. Lots of that can be done at low cost (i.e. with street paint and stop signs). Even though the Gateway Plan wants fewer cars and a car-free lifestyle, the city planners insist on the bankrupt belief of expanding the roads by placing a truck-route thoroughfare right at the heart of the Creamery District – and in a spot where the City doesn’t own the width or have the rights to build a road.
The Gateway Plan hasn’t done too well with Geography, Trigonometry, or Algebra. It also hasn’t done well with Social Studies, History, Business, or Ethics. I don’t think it’s going to pass unless things get better.
We love Arcata
The promises appear to be all political promises – nice plans but with no solid ideas for making these promises come true. We want a better plan than what the planners gave us. Let’s not forget what this plan is about and who it’s for. If the Gateway Plan is not going to provide actual affordable housing for the people who need it, then who exactly benefits? Who is this housing for?
To aid in understanding the Gateway Plan, there’s a special web page for Mad River Union readers at Arcata1.com/union. There you will find maps, dimensions, aerial views, 3D modeling, other Union articles, videos of meetings, all these quotes, how to contact your City Council and Commission, the music of “Wonderful World,” and so much more.
Please: Learn and be informed. Speak your voice.
Demand a better plan. Design our future.
It is indeed possible, and we can create it. If you’re concerned about a Gateway Plan that’s not in sync with the citizens of Arcata, please join the hundreds of Arcatans who feel this way as well.
Fred Weis started Arcata1.com out of concern that information needed for good decision-making was not being accurately supplied by our city government. He can be reached at fred @ arcata1.com