news story / By Ryan Burns

Town Holler

HumCPR may have been formed by property developers and realtors, but its supporting ranks include plenty of SoHum back-to-the-land enviros. Healthy Humboldt, meanwhile, doesn’t advocate eliminating rural development, just limiting its total footprint. They hope to keep unscrupulous timber companies from liquidating timberlands by selling them off as massive residential fiefdoms. If you’ll recall, Maxxam subsidiary Pacific Lumber tried that maneuver a couple years back as a way to avoid bankruptcy. The county’s reaction — proposing a 45-day moratorium on all TPZ construction — prompted many property owners (not to mention realtors and investors) to cry foul. The offended parties coalesced into HumCPR and quickly set their sights on the general plan update. Healthy Humboldt, which includes HSU professors, politicians and business owners, responded in kind.

Both groups are passionate about preserving Humboldt County’s beauty and unique charms, even if they differ somewhat as to how. This overlapping of values has everyone claiming the moral high ground, often while using similar buzz words to defend our “unique character” and “quality of life.” Yet important distinctions do exist. At the root of the debate is the question of who should take care of the land — government or landowners. Fennell believes it’s the latter. The county, she said, should be focused “not so much on restricting rural residents as guiding people to do better resource management. … People in and of themselves are not a blight on the landscape,” she insisted. “People can actually help. That’s the wise approach.”

In Fennell’s view, Southern Humboldt’s people and towns have been overlooked and misunderstood in the planning process. Sprawl is simply not a realistic threat, she said, given the topography, demographics and attitudes of SoHum. “We just don’t look or feel like Orange County, and we never will,” she said.

But Kalt argues that sprawl has already happened in Humboldt County, and she’s living in it. “It’s McKinleyville,” she said. What was once a collection of small, distinct communities (Calville, represent!) has been allowed to spread into a large, poorly planned bedroom community that remains unincorporated, she said. “If we stick with the plan we have now, we’re gonna have another McKinleyville on the outskirts of Eureka and probably another one outside Fortuna. I don’t think anybody wants that.” Plus, she added, the roads needed to accommodate such sprawl are environmentally disastrous — a price we can no longer afford. “The Eel River used to have 500,000 fall Chinook every year. The most recent fish count shows something like 3,000,” she said, incensed. “I can’t believe people aren’t freaking out about this! That’s what it’s all about for me.”

No doubt Fennell wants to save the Chinook too, but she worries that over-regulation from the government could prevent rural landowners from, say, splitting off a few acres for their children or their ailing parents. “Subdividing a parcel doesn’t mean it’s a subdivision,” she said.

When asked her opinion of Thursday’s meeting, Fennell was diplomatic. “It’s something we can all learn to be better at: communicating.” Regardless, she said, public involvement is vital. “Even if it’s painful for some, we should have more of these meetings.”

In a recent phone conversation, Supervising Planner Tom Hofweber, who was among the sober faces on stage last Thursday, explained that the Land Use Element now goes back to the planning commission (under the direction of the Board of Supervisors) for deliberation. “If they ask for additional analysis, we give that to them,” he said dryly. “If there has to be more [public] comment, we open it up.”

Damn, dude. Better bring a Red Bull.

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