Coastal staff urge sea-level limits on Humboldt commercial-residential plan

California Coastal Commission staff are recommending that commissioners reject Humboldt County’s commercial-residential Local Coastal Program amendment as submitted, then approve it only if the county accepts three hazard and location fixes before the rules take effect.

Staff report W13b, prepared Sept. 24, 2026, for the Oct. 7 hearing, covers LCP Amendment No. LCP-1-HUM-24-0054-2-Part D (Commercial Residential; Fences; Mini-Storage). Part D was filed complete July 23; the 60-day deadline for final Commission action is Oct. 16. North Coast District Manager Melissa B. Kraemer and Deputy Director Shana Gray signed the recommendation.

County Ordinance No. 2746 would add “Commercial Residential” as a permitted use in Neighborhood Commercial, General Commercial, and Business Park zones and set standards for projects that are all dwellings or a mix of dwellings and commercial uses at densities of up to 30 units per acre, plus density bonuses already allowed under the LCP. Staff note the package is similar to, but separate from, Senate Bill 6’s Middle Class Housing Act and omits that statute’s prevailing-wage and 2032 sunset provisions. A companion ordinance would tweak fence rules and add mini-storage as a conditional use in certain commercial and industrial zones; staff would certify that piece as submitted.

As submitted, staff say the commercial-residential rules would reach rural North Coast, Trinidad, and South Coast plan areas and even allow onsite water and wastewater with a special permit, conflicting with policies that concentrate development where urban services exist. Suggested Modification 1 would limit applicability to McKinleyville, Humboldt Bay, and Eel River area plan lands served by public water and sewer.

Around Humboldt Bay, staff warn that some commercial and business-park sites are already flood-prone and exposed to tsunami and sea-level-rise risk. Suggested Modification 2 would prohibit commercial-residential projects in areas mapped as vulnerable to flooding with about 5.5 feet of sea-level rise, while leaving ordinary commercial uses available there, and would clarify a ban near industrial lands including the Samoa Town Master Plan overlay. Suggested Modification 3 would require new residential projects in mapped tsunami hazard areas to have a refuge point reachable at a walking pace of 0.89 meters per second within a 10-minute arrival window, and to record a development plan disclosing the hazard and nearest refuge.

If the Commission certifies the amendment with those modifications, Humboldt’s Board of Supervisors would have six months, until April 7, 2027, to accept them by formal resolution before the changes become effective. If the Oct. 7 item is continued without final action, staff ask commissioners to extend the action deadline by one year to Oct. 16, 2027.

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