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January 11, 2001
Two
legal challenges left
Relatives of the late Vera Perrott
Vietor, founder in 1972 of the Humboldt Area Foundation, are
down to their last two legal options in their fight to stop HAF
from constructing a 6,500-square-foot administration building
on property Vietor left the foundation in her will.
They are asking the state Supreme
Court to review a unanimous appeals court decision issued in
November -- which, by their own admission, is unlikely -- and
they plan to protest a request by the foundation for a building
permit extension before the Humboldt County Planning Commission
next week.
"We are taking this to
the court of public opinion Jan. 18," John Perrott told
the Journal in a telephone interview from Texas.
Ironically, HAF officials wouldn't
need the permit extension if they hadn't been tied up in court
for the past 18 months by the Perrott family.
Trinidad attorney Joe Paladin,
representing the Perrotts, says Vera Vietor's will was violated
in two ways.
"One was the blacktopping
[23 parking spaces and tree removal in 1996] of what Vera wanted
`native and unspoiled,'" Paladin said. "The other was
invading the principal" of her trust fund to pay for the
new building.
"She specifically said
they could use the interest but not the principal of the trust,"
Paladin said.
Humboldt Area Foundation Executive
Director Peter Pennekamp said the courts consistently have ruled
in HAF's favor. The foundation board requested and received prior
approval from the state attorney general regarding the building
plans and again on financing.
"The attorney general said
[the Perrotts' objections] are utterly without merit," Pennekamp
said.
Humboldt County Superior Court
Judge J. Michael Brown dismissed the Perrotts' claims Sept. 27,
1999, ruling the will was not breached. "The project appears
to be in keeping with the intent of the testator (Vietor), whose
first desire was to establish the foundation, and yet maintain
the property in its park-like atmosphere," he wrote.
Brown further ruled that the
Perrotts, Vietor's nieces and nephews, have no legal "standing,"
or right to sue. That decision was upheld by the state Appeal
Court in San Francisco in November.
Concerning the permit extension
request, county Planner Alyson Hunter said she understands the
Perrotts plan to protest, but such extension requests are "very
routine.
"The project has not been
changed. It's just been delayed," she added.
Pennekamp said once the last
two legal hurdles are overcome, he is looking forward to breaking
ground on the project, "probably within a month or two."
The building project will also
include additional parking for 65 cars on the 14.5-acre site
off Indianola Cutoff between Arcata and Eureka.
The Perrotts' legal challenges
filed against the foundation was the subject of a Journal cover
story by George Ringwald, "Legacy
of greed," Sept. 30, 1999.
Big box
update
Two items involving potential
big box retailers were in the news last week.
An agent for the owners of the
Bracut Industrial property on the bay between Arcata and Eureka
said they have received feedback from the county and other agencies
on their proposal for 140,000-square-foot home improvement center
and are preparing a response.
Although the county is the lead
agency, Eureka city officials, the Coastal Commission and a group
called Friends of Humboldt, which successfully fought to defeat
WalMart on the balloon tract in Eureka two years ago, are calling
for a full environmental impact report.
Some agencies raised specific
concerns -- the county Public Works Department, for instance,
is concerned with impact of crossing the railroad tracks that
run between Highway 101 and the parcel -- the biggest issue is
traffic.
"Traffic is the
issue," agreed Dave Schneider, who represents the owners
Dennis and Arlene Hess.
Caltrans officials told the
county that nothing short of constructing an interchange would
be able to handle the traffic increase and safety issues.
Schneider said Caltrans has
been looking at improving the 101 corridor for years and the
project may be able to help.
The Bracut project proposes
to demolish 80,000 square feet of old industrial buildings to
make room for the single new construction large enough to accomodate
home-and-garden center, such as Home Depot or Lowe's Home Improvement
Warehouse. The parcel owners have declined to name the prospective
tenant.
In a possibly related story,
the closure of Montgomery Ward on the north end of Eureka opens
up other big box possibilities. According to Eureka city officials,
the 11-acre parcel is marginally big enough to house a national
retailer such as WalMart or Home Depot. WalMart was seeking a
parcel 13 acres or larger for a 130,000-square-foot superstore
but the company has smaller versions in other areas of the country.
Eyewitness
to a rescue
Editor's note: The Journal
doesn't usually cover "breaking news," but we are making
an exception for an eyewitness account. Staff writer Bob Doran
just happened to be aboard the tug, the Nancy Stout, Saturday
with Mark Staniland, the husband of Eureka Mayor Nancy Flemming.
The mayor, contrary to some reports, was not on board.
by BOB DORAN
![[photo of rescue in progress]](news0111-rescue.jpg) About 9:48 a.m. As the Nancy
Stout pulls away from Woodley Island, skipper Mark Staniland
notices a commotion across the bay at the foot of C Street. There
is a car in the water and Staniland immediately changes course.
9:51 a.m. On shore, emergency
vehicles converge, two Eureka police cruisers and a fire truck
with its lights spinning are on the scene. By the time we reach
the sinking station wagon, there are another fire engine and
more than a dozen firemen and policemen standing on shore. Two
sheriff's boats pull up on either side of the car.
9:52 a.m. Staniland easily maneuvers
the tug so it drifts into position next to the sheriff's boats.
Clark Arquette, a man from Los Gatos, is trapped inside a sinking
station wagon full of floating debris. Staniland yells to one
of the sheriff's that he has a crow bar.
9:53 a.m. Staniland hands the
crowbar to Deputy Sheriff Mike Fridley who hops on top of the
car followed by another deputy, Phil Daastol. Those onshore are
shouting conflicting suggestions as to how to proceed. The deputies
decide to use the crow bar to smash in the rear window of the
wagon. The vehicle was sinking slowly, but with two men on top
and water pouring in through the broken window, the situation
quickly becomes critical. Only a few inches of air space remain
inside.
9:55 a.m. Staniland dons a yellow
flotation jacket. Several men from the fire rescue crew are still
stripping off their bulky slickers onshore. Without hesitation,
Staniland jumps into the bay. After Fridley breaks the passenger
side window, Staniland, who once served in the Coast Guard, begins
pulling things from the car -- a sleeping bag and clothing drifts
off behind him. Then he reaches into the vehicle and pulls Arquette
through the window with fireman Ross Carollo assisting.
9:56 a.m. Staniland pulls Arquette
to shore with two more firemen assisting. Arquette is whisked
away in an ambulance.
9:57 a.m. Staniland is back
at the wheel of the Nancy Stout, dripping wet, and resumes the
trip to his home on Indian Island. When someone on board suggests,
"You are a hero," Staniland shrugs it off.
"It's nothing," he
says as he grabs a towel to mop up some blood left by cuts he
received from the broken car window.
According to Sgt. Pat Freese
of the Eureka Police, who was on the scene, officers believe
Arquette may have driven the car into the bay intentionally.
"The man has mental problems. He was taken to a mental facility,"
said Freese.
Arcata's
behavior ordinances
Two ordinances limiting behavior
on the Arcata Plaza were passed Jan. 3 by the City Council over
vocal protests by the group targeted by the new restrictions.
One new ordinance prohibits
smoking, drinking, dogs, roller skating or skateboarding in Arcata's
business area, a broad area around the Plaza and continuing all
the way to North Town near the university.
An exception was included for
smokers along the north side of Ninth Street, where several bars
are located. Skaters and dogs are still permitted in most of
the area as long as they are "moving along," said City
Manager Dan Hauser.
A second ordinance prohibits
sitting or lying down on sidewalks, curbs or streets throughout
the city.
The express purpose of the ordinances
is to minimize the impact of Arcata's homeless population on
downtown businesses. More than a 100 people, many of them transients,
were at the meeting Jan. 3 to protest the measures. As the meeting
dragged on, the atmosphere got increasingly unfriendly. By 1
a.m., when the meeting was adjourned, three protestors had been
ejected from the meeting by police.
While opponents outnumbered
supporters of the ordinances by a large margin, they were faced
with a council that unanimously favored the ordinance on dogs,
smoking, drinking and skating. The ban on sitting and lying passed
3-2, with Michael Machi and Bob Ornelas dissenting.
Over 60,
still learning
It's never too late to teach
a mature dog new tricks, as over 100 senior citizens are proving
at Humboldt State University.
The seniors, some of them more
than 80 years old, are taking classes as part of HSU's Over-60
Program, which offers classes to mature adults for $6 per credit.
The program offers the chance to learn and make connections with
a younger generation.
Enrollment is underway and classes
start Jan. 22. Call Lydia Frick for more information at 826-6198.
FERC nixes
more water in Eel
The battle of words surrounding
diversion of water from the Eel River to the Russian River saw
another skirmish this week, as the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission again rejected calls to keep more water in the Eel.
The commission controls the
Potter Valley Project, which generates a small amount of electricity
and diverts a large amount of water to support residential and
agricultural interests south to Marin County. FERC has proposed
reducing the amount diverted by 15 percent to protect salmon
and steelhead stocks, which are listed as threatened under the
Endangered Species Act.
The National Marine Fisheries
Service issued a "draft opinion" in November assessing
the effects of the commission's plan on the threatened fish.
The draft was critical of the plan and suggested keeping more
water in the Eel.
The commission has now answered
that draft opinion, reaffirming its position that the 15 percent
reduction in flows should be sufficient to preserve salmonids.
If the two federal agencies don't come to an agreement, the commission
could decide to go ahead with its proposed plan without NMFS
approval.
That would likely open the door
to lawsuits, as the ESA specifically requires a biological opinion
that claims the commission's action would not lead to the extinction
of the species. The fisheries service's final opinion is due
by Jan. 23.
Dry year
-- so far
Exacerbating fights over the
allocation of river water is the current spell of dry weather.
Rainfall in Humboldt County has been about half of a normal year
so far, said Mike Dutter, a meteorologist with the National Weather
Service in Eureka.
But it's still too early to
cry drought.
"We had the same thing
happen last year, and we made it all up in February," Dutter
said. "We actually ended the year with more than average
precipitation. With just a couple of storms up here you can make
up a lot really fast."
PL buys,
sells timberland
Pacific Lumber had an eventful
week, selling off land and buying other parcels and two mills.
The company sold 1,200 acres
near Owl Creek Jan. 5 that had been targeted as part of the Headwaters
agreement in 1998. The property had been the site of conflict
in the early '90s, when PL tried to log it over the protest of
environmentalists. Logging was eventually stopped by an injunction
issued as part of a lawsuit filed by
the Environmental Protection
Information Center in Garberville.
The property was purchased for
$67 million, a price determined by an appraiser instructed to
assess the property as if it were viable timberland. The Legislature
had set aside $80 million, leaving $13 million that could potentially
be reallocated for further land acquisitions. But Mary Bullwinkel,
spokesperson for PL, said the company is not a willing seller
of any of its timberland except a parcel around Grizzly Creek,
also part of the Headwaters agreement.
PL also donated more than 600
acres of its property on the South Spit to the Humboldt Bay Wildlife
Refuge, although Bullwinkel admitted there was little reason
for PL to hold on to it.
"There aren't any trees
there," she said.
Despite losing more than 1,800
acres in the two transactions, PL actually came out ahead in
land holdings this week, as it was announced that a letter of
intent had been signed between the company and Eel River Sawmills.
According to the agreement, PL will purchase two of Eel River's
four mills and about 9,000 of its 25,000 acres of timberland.
The remaining two mills, both
in Redcrest, have also apparently been sold, said Eel River President
Dennis Scott. Inglewood Forest Products has signed a letter of
intent to purchase the two mills and some of Eel River's timberland
but not all.
Both Inglewood and PL have said
that they plan to operate the mills at current levels, Scott
said, which would mean that workers could avoid layoffs that
were threatened earlier this year.
"Right now they're talking
about running it like we were running it."
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