Coastal Commission to Take Up Schneider Permit Violations, Potential Penalties 

A local developer's well-publicized permit woes — as well as the path to resolving them — now officially rest in the jurisdiction of the California Coastal Commission.

After hearing a staff report that spanned less than 3 minutes, the commission upheld staff's recommendation to find the appeal of the Humboldt County Planning Commission's permit modifications approved as a part of a deal to remove Travis Schneider's partially built mansion overlooking the Fay Slough Wildlife Area presented "substantial issues." The decision means Schneider's various permit violations — and the potential penalties attached to them — will be taken up anew, with the California Coastal Commission the deciding body, a scenario both Schneider and the Humboldt County Planning Department had hoped to avoid.

In July, the Humboldt County Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the permits and permit modifications necessary for Schneider to tear down his partially constructed 21,000-square-foot family home on Walker Point Road as a part of a deal aimed at resolving pervasive code violations that prompted the county to issue a stop worker order in December of 2021. Under the deal, Schneider pledged to remove the partially constructed home, 15,000 cubic yards of fill dirt and restore the property to its natural grade, while gifting a portion that includes an archeological site — a well-preserved, pre-contact Wiyot village site first documented in 1918 — to be held for three Wiyot area tribes. In exchange, the county agreed to forgive fines and penalties of up to $3.6 million incurred due to the violations, which included building a home more than twice the permitted size, bringing in more fill dirt than permitted, grading without a permit, clearing environmentally sensitive habitat and building on a footprint outside of the plans approved by the county, encroaching on a wetland setback in the process.

In appealing the county's decision back in August, two California Coastal Commissioners — current Chair Charyl Hart and then Chair Donne Brownsey — argued that the county's action was inconsistent with its certified local coastal program. In its subsequent report, commission staff then recommended the commission find the appeal should be granted because the county's agreement with Schneider did not do enough to protect archeological resources and environmentally sensitive habitat and could set an "adverse precedent" throughout the state if allowed to stand.

Staff contends that the permits and permit modifications approved by the county do not legally impose the conditions of a separate compliance agreement, leaving its outcome "not legally assured." But commission staff further argued that even pushing aside that concern, the measures as written fail to fully protect against future disturbances of the archeological site. As to the environmentally sensitive habitat restoration and protections, commission staff charged the county failed to incorporate "objective standards," adding its findings were based on "incomplete maps and plans that did not depict all disturbed areas and required restoration areas."

A proposal to resolve Schneider's permit violations will now be heard by the full commission at a future date. Coastal Commission North Coast District Manager Melissa Kraemer said she does not have an estimated timeline for that to occur, noting commission staff will meet with Schneider "sometime soon to discuss the process moving forward."

That process could include administrative civil penalties. The California Coastal Act authorizes the commission to impose penalties of up to $11,250 per violation for each day that violation persists. In Schneider's case, violations were discovered when the county issued its stop work order Dec. 27, 2021, and have persisted since, meaning, as the Journal went to press, he could face up to $9.1 million in fines per violation, with that threshold continuing to increase daily until the matter is resolved.

Schneider, who has reportedly moved out of Humboldt County and out of state, has not responded to Journal inquiries about the Coastal Commission appeal.

Thadeus Greenson (he/him) is the Journal's news editor. Reach him at (707) 442-1400, extension 321, or [email protected].