Engagement Information
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Looking for submitted Public Comment? Click the "Public Comments" tab, below.
General Plan Update and Local Coastal Program UpdatePlanning Commission Review of the General Plan and Gateway Area Plan. The City of Arcata Planning Commission is continuing to work through various chapters of the draft Gateway Area Plan and General Plan at its regularly scheduled planning commission meetings, which take place the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 6 PM. These meetings can be attended in person or via Zoom at this time. The Planning Commission will also continue to review the Local Coastal Program through 2023. Agendas for upcoming meetings can be reviewed here. The City Council set a timeframe for a Planning Commission recommendation on the Gateway Form-Based Code, the Gateway Plan, and the General Plan Element Updates. Requesting a recommendation from the Commission on this body of work by the July 11 Planning Commission meeting. In response, the Commission will consider the topics it wishes to cover, the timeframes available to complete the work, and a decision focused meeting process to meet the timeline. This proposed framework was adopted at the March 14, and amended at the March 27, 2023, meetings of the Planning Commission. The Commission is using this framework to work through the Elements. The Commission will make a recommendation to Council on the Elements on or before its July 11 meeting. Environmental Review. The City is currently working to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to support updates to the General Plan, the Gateway Area Plan, and associated zoning changes needed in order to implement the General Plan. Director David Loya presented information regarding the City's assumptions for the environmental analysis, which can be can be viewed on the City’s SIRP YouTube channel, here. Below is a calendar of engagement opportunities undertaken since the August 23rd joint study session of the Planning Commission and City Council. Additional past Planning Commission and Committee Meetings where Gateway Plan topics have been reviewed, as well as agendas for upcoming meetings, can be watched on the City's website, here. Future hearing dates listed in the table below are subject to change.
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Review the Draft Community Engagement Report
The City has been working on General Plan updates in earnest for the last three years, starting with the Housing Element adopted in 2019, the Infill Market Study adopted in early 2020, and the release of various elements of the General Plan, beginning with the Gateway Area Plan in 2021. A summary of engagements is provided below.
NEW! Blanck and Oram Equity Partners Racial Equity Engagement Report
Planning Commission Suggested Changes by General Plan Element
- 2023-03-27 Commissioner Recommended Changes to the Land Use and Vision Element (submitted prior to hearing)
- 2023-04-11 Commissioner Recommended Changes to the Mobility, Public Facilities, Infrastructure and Circulation Element (submitted prior to hearing)
- 2023-04-11 Commissioner Recommended Changes to the Mobility, Public Facilities, Infrastructure and Circulation Element pt.2
- 2023-04-22 Commissioner Recommended Changes to the Public Facilities and Infrastructure Element (submitted prior to hearing)
- 2023-04-25 Commissioner Recommended Changes to the Public Facilities and Infrastructure Element (submitted prior to hearing)
- 2023-04-27 Commissioner Recommended Changes to the Vision Statement, Land Use Element, Circulation Element, Public Facilities and Infrastructure Element and Public Safety Element (submitted prior to hearing)
- 2023-05-09 Commissioner Recommended Changes to the Historic Preservation Element, Vision Statement, Land Use Element, Circulation Element, Public Facilities and Infrastructure Element and Public Safety Element (submitted prior to hearing)
- 2023-05-09 Commissioner Recommended Changes to the Historic Preservation Element, Vision Statement, Land Use Element, Circulation Element, Public Facilities and Infrastructure Element and Public Safety Element pt. 2
- 2023-05-23 Commissioner Recommended Changes to the Design Element, Health Element, Vision Statement, Land Use Element, Circulation Element, Public Facilities and Infrastructure Element and Public Safety Element (submitted prior to hearing)
- 2023-07-11 Commissioner Lehman Recommended Changes to the Air Quality Element, Noise Element, Resource Conservation Element, and Introduction
Committee Suggested Changes by General Plan Element
- Historic Preservation Element with Historic Landmarks Committee modifications adopted 03.16.23
- Parks and Recreation Element with Parks and Recreation Committee modifications reccommended 10.12.22
- Circulation and Mobility Element with Transportation Safety Committee modifications adopted 05.30.23
- Resource Conservation Element with Wetlands and Creeks Committee modifications adopted 01.17.23
- Resource Conservation Element with Forest Management Commitee modifications adopted 09.08.22
- Open Space Element with Wetlands and Creeks Committee modifications adopted 11.15.22
Gateway Plan Policy Recommendations by City Committee
Please note, three City Committees (Parks and Recreation, Energy, and Historic Landmakrs Committees) adopted general recommendations while the remaining committees adopted policy-specific recommendations.
- 2022-07-13 Parks and Recreation Committee Adopted Policy Recommendations
- 2022-07-18 Energy Committee Recommendations
- 2022-07-27 Historic Landmarks Committee Recommendations
- 2022-08-02 Economic Development Committee Recommendations
- 2022-08-02 Transportation Safety Committee Recommendations
- 2022-08-11 Forest Management Committee Recommendations
- 2022-09-20 Wetlands and Creeks Committee Recommendations
Form-Based Code Workshop Results
Form-Based Code Public Workshops.
These sessions covered design standards proposed to regulate building scale and massing, building heights by zone, parking, open space, and more. Older presentations in this series are now complete and can be viewed on the City's YouTube channel, here.
Meeting 1, Part 1: Public Wokshop on Building and Roof Design, Open Space- January 19, 2023 6-8 pm via zoom:The first session focused on architectural and open space regulations utilizing a form-based code.
- A recording of the video can be found here.
- Post-meeting survey results can be found here.
- Please refer to the Look Book when reviewing the survey .
Meeting 1, Part 2: Planning Commission Study Session on Building and Roof Design, Open Space- Saturday, February 11th, 8:30am-12:30pm- (in-person at City Hall).
- Materials for this session and the agenda for the Planning Commission Study Session can be accessed here.
Meeting 2: Public Workshop on Streetscape, Parking, and Open Space- Thursday, February 23rd, 6:-8: pm (via zoom)
- Post-meeting survey results can be found here
- Survey reference materials are embedded within the survey but can be downloaded seperately, here.
- A recording of the video can be found here.
Draft Community Engagement Report
The current phase of General Plan updates includes an engagement report. This draft Community Engagement Report includes a review of the engagement and decision-making process through June 2022. Additional engagement data that has not yet been incorporated into the final engagement report is provided below for review.
The General Plan update process has involved several different engagement strategies to ensure broad participation. The engagement is ongoing. This is the initial draft report and a final report will be completed at the end of the process. This working draft collates engagement efforts and input to-date. The final report, along with a report of the recommendations, will inform the decision makers before adopting the General Plan updates.
REVIEW THE WORKING DRAFT OF THE ENGAGEMENT REPORT HERE.
Engagement Report Attachments
• Visioning Meetings - Notes by Group
• Walking Tour Polling - Raw Export
Visioning Survey Results
Equity Partners Racial Equity Report
Additional Engagement Data
- Poll Results: August 16th Form-Based Code Workshop
- Poll Results: August 23 Planning Commission/City Coucnil Study Session (decision makers)
- Poll Results: August 23 Planning Commission/City Council Study Session (public)
- Poll Results: October 11 Planning Commisison Meeting (Gateway Height Concerns)
- Poll Results: October 25 Planning Commisison Meeting (Gateway Solutions)
- October 25 Planning Commission Concern/Solution Set (DRAFT)
- November 8 Planning Commission Concern/Solution Set (FINAL)
Open House Poster photos:
| Poster 1 | Poster 2 | Poster 3 | Poster 4 | Poster 5 |
| Poster 6 | Poster 7 | Poster 8 | Poster 9 | Poster 10 |
| Poster 11 | Poster 12 | Poster 13 | Poster 14 | Poster 15 |
| Poster 16 | Poster 17 | Poster 18 | Poster 19 | Poster 20 |
Public comment received on the Infill Program has been saved internally as part of the administrative record for this program. Based on community interest, comments received will be uploaded to this website in batches. Generally, comments will be uploaded in chronological, monthly batches.
NOTE: Comment received by individual members of the Planning Commissioners can be found under the 'Engagement Calendar' tab of this page, associated with the meeting at which it was discussed.
Comments Received
| 2021 | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022 | MARCH-MAY 2022 | JUNE-JULY 2022 |
| AUGUST 1-30 2022 | SEPTEMBER 1-30 2022 | OCTOBER 1-31 2022 | NOV-DECEMBER 2022 |
No Comments Received. | |||
| JUNE 17-23 2023 | JUNE 24-30, 2023 | ||
No Comments Received. | JULY 29 - AUGUST 4 2023 | AUGUST 5-11 2023 | |
| SEPTEMBER 2-8 2023 | |||
| SEPTEMBER 23-29 2023 | SEPTEMBER 30-OCTOBER 6 2023 | ||
No Comments Received. | OCTOBER 21-27 2023 | No Comments Received. | |
No Comments Received. | No Comments Received. | NOVEMBER 25-DECEMBER 1 2023 | |