The Arcata City Council passed a vacation rental ordinance last night that will cap the units at 100, for now, as well as require owners to obtain permits and provide contact information at the site. After Mayor Sofia Pereira recused herself, the remaining councilmembers voted 4-0 to pass the regulations on short-stay rentals in an […]
housing
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HSU to House Firefighters in Residence Halls
Humboldt State University will provide housing for firefighters in unused residence halls on campus this fire season. The university has partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to offer quarantine housing for those fighting fires in and surrounding Humboldt County. In the event that the fire crews test positive for COVID-19, HSU has set aside two […]
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With Housing Element Passed, Staff Pushes Forward on Tiny Houses
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously, with Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson absent, on Aug. 20 to approve its Housing Element update, a bold new plan to address what county staff has identified as an affordable housing and homelessness “crisis.” Drafted by the county Planning and Building Department, the update is designed to […]
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That Van Life
A young man in a black windbreaker perches on the roof of his Dodge Sprinter van, looks out at the sunlit creek, and thinks about getting dinner started. The 31-year-old, who goes by Travis Wild, has been living out of the van for the last three years, ticking off daily to-do lists in his tiny […]
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‘Outside the Box’
The Humboldt County Planning Commission voted 5-1 on July 11, with Commissioner Alan Bongio dissenting and Commissioner Noah Levy absent, to move an ambitious draft Housing Element update on to the Board of Supervisors. The board is slated to review the draft update — which dubs the local housing situation a “crisis” and identifies drastic […]
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Transitional Housing Project Moves Forward, Grand Jury Report Underscores Need
Local philanthropist Betty Chinn plans to erect a small transitional housing village out of modular trailers donated by PG&E that have been lying dormant for months on the city-owned Crowley property on the south end of town. PG&E donated the 11 trailers — which it had been using as administrative offices at the Humboldt Bay […]
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Town Hall Aims to Bridge ‘Empathy Gap’ on Transitional Housing
True North Organizing Network will host a town hall meeting tomorrow afternoon on the need for transitional housing locally. The meeting — scheduled from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church at 625 15th St. in Eureka — is intended to bridge the “empathy gap” organizers feel exists in conversations about finding shelter for […]
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Digital Nomad: A Bipolar Man’s Slow Slide into Homelessness in Humboldt
With his head hung low and a purple, black eye cast to the ground, Robert Stretton crossed the street outside the Humboldt County Courthouse on the cold, rainy afternoon of Dec. 20. He had just been served with a restraining order, a day after being evicted from an office on Eureka’s E Street that he’d […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
‘I’m Indoors’
This is a new beginning after a story that has been long, slow, painful and ever so drawn out. I am (finally) back indoors, in an actual apartment! Not some long-term, extended stay motel nor the local Rescue Mission nor a cold and lonely tent in the middle of nowhere. A real apartment. It’s a […]
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The Village Returns
When a controversial student housing project known as The Village came before the Arcata City Council last year, surrounding neighborhoods were concerned over the development’s size before it stalled. Six months later, the project is back, with the developer having added about 90 units and 50 beds to its proposal. AMCAL, the developer looking to […]
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Arcata Council Advances Revised Village Housing Project
Arcata’s The Village housing project is not dead, the City Council decided last night with a unanimous vote to reconsider the newly revised development proposal. The project will go through three more review hearings before moving forward: one with the Arcata Planning Commission and two more with the council, including one focused on vacating St. […]
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Arcata City Council to Mull Revamped Village Project
The Arcata City Council will consider a revamped proposal for a large student housing project next week, with Community Development Director David Loya saying he expects the council to make a “go-no-go” decision on the project. Loya and city staff presented a revised plan for The Village at a public meeting Wednesday, about five months […]