Our friends at Redwood Coalition for Climate and Environmental Responsibility do a great job monitoring what’s happening with the Gateway Project. We are passing along their alert that the City Council will be voting on both the Gateway Project and complementary General Plan Updates. Please turn out next Wednesday at 6pm to support passage. We are writing a letter for 350 Humboldt but bodies in the room will make the difference!
350 Humboldt Steering Committee
This is the last chance to voice support for the Gateway Plan and General Plan Updates. Opponents of the plan came out in full at the last Arcata City Council meetings and we expect them to do the same for this meeting, so it’s critical that pro-housing and pro-environment voices of support counter those voices of opposition. Let’s make sure the City Council sees and hears a strong showing of support for climate-friendly development at this critical decision point.
SAVE THE DATE: Wednesday July 17, 2024 at 6:00PM, the Arcata City Council will make a final vote on the Gateway Plan and General Plan Update.
This is the final opportunity to ensure the Gateway Plan moves forward intact, don’t let all of the hard work and advocacy go to waste. We encourage you to mark your calendars and come to next Wednesday’s meeting at Arcata City Hall and voice your support!
While commenting during the meeting is the most impactful way to have your voice heard, you can also email the City Council to express support (and their emails are included below).*
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MORE INFORMATION:
RCCER [and 350 Humboldt] strongly supports the Gateway Plan as a template for climate-friendly development of desperately needed housing in Arcata.
Here are some talking points on the climate and people friendly elements of the Gateway Plan that RCCER wants to ensure get adopted:
- RCCER strongly supports denser development in the Gateway area. Density is climate-friendly, encourages equitable transportation, and prevents sprawl. We welcome the strategic use of taller buildings as a way to conserve the farm and wild lands that make Arcata special.
- RCCER supports measures in the plan to encourage greater housing affordability to ensure new development advances racial and economic justice in our community.
- RCCER supports streamlined zoning requirements and minimal design guidelines that allow for dense housing that remains affordable to build. This is to ensure that nonprofit, community-focused, and mission-driven developers can invest in housing in the district and are not negatively impacted by overly restrictive zoning guidelines that increase building costs and reduce affordability.
- RCCER celebrates the plan’s elimination of minimum parking mandates in the Gateway area and calls on the city to extend this policy across the city. The city should not be mandating private automobile storage at the expense of walkability and public transportation.
Two other things to keep in mind when commenting:
- Express gratitude: It has been a long (and at times painful) process to develop the Gateway Plan. Let’s thank City staff and officials for their time, attention, and commitment to this important effort.
- Get personal: A comment is always stronger if you can connect it back to your own lived experience. Have you or loved ones struggled with housing affordability locally? Are you worried about sprawl because of a personal or professional commitment to the environment? Be sure to share that here!
Please mark your calendars and come to next Wednesday’s meeting and voice your support!
Thanks for taking the time to make your voice heard. Rock on, friends!