PREVIOUSLY: (VIDEO) Fire in Duplex on Old Town’s Second Street Prompting Large Response

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Press release from Humboldt Bay Fire:

On 8/11/2022 at 1:44 P.M. Humboldt Bay Fire was dispatched to a reported structure fire on the 800 Block of Second Street in Eureka. Three engines, a ladder truck, and Battalion Chief responded to the incident. The first arriving Humboldt Bay Fire unit found heavy fire coming from the rear porch area of a duplex apartment building.

The first unit was assigned to search the structure and rescue any remaining victims. There were multiple people who had entered the structure and had to be removed by fire personnel. Within minutes everyone was confirmed out of the structure.

While the first unit searched for victims additional units arrived, attacked the fire and ventilated the structure. The main body of fire was primarily exterior but had spread to the interior and attic areas. Fire crews had the fire controlled in 15 minutes. Crews transitioned to mop-up and investigation duties.

The investigation of the fire on Second Street was determined to be arson. The Eureka Police Department was contacted and responded to assist Humboldt Bay Fire with the fire investigation. No civilians or firefighters were injured in the fire. Damages were estimated at $25,000.

During the structure fire, a Humboldt Bay Fire unit was dispatched to an alarm sounding and report of smoke in the area on the 1300 Block of I Street. The HBF unit discovered and extinguished a cooking fire in an apartment. Humboldt Bay Fire would like to thank the Arcata Fire Protection District and Samoa Fire Protection District who responded to assist with coverage of Humboldt Bay Fire’s area. They responded to multiple medical aids while covering.

After discussing elements of the Gateway Area Plan for the better part of a year, Arcata’s Planning Commission and City Council are ready to get into the nitty-gritty. 

If you haven’t kept up with our somewhat incessant coverage of the Gateway Area Plan in the last couple of weeks, here’s a rundown: The Gateway Area Plan is a housing initiative by the City of Arcata to rezone 138 acres of underutilized land in and around the Creamery District to accommodate high-density housing in the years and decades to come. The plan will streamline future development efforts and serve as an outline of what Arcatans do and do not want built within the Gateway Plan Area.

The Arcata Planning Commission met this week to consider Responsible Growth Arcata’s request to form a Gateway Area Plan advisory group. One of the group’s members, Scott McBain, emphasized that Responsible Growth Arcata’s intent is “to help the city produce a balanced, high-quality Gateway Plan that we can be proud of in 20 years and beyond.”

McBain | Screenshot

“This advisory committee [would] mirror previous City of Arcata task forces…that have successfully improved large-scale infrastructure and planning efforts,” McBain told commissioners. “Part of the vision here is to do that again and to build community support towards a better outcome, which is why we’re all here.”

The advisory committee would be composed of seven to nine council-appointed members. The committee would work to bridge the gap between local government bodies and the public and, ideally, allow staff to focus on the city’s General Plan update.

McBain acknowledged the city’s extensive public outreach efforts surrounding the Gateway Area Plan but felt as though public feedback “is going into a black hole.”

“We would like to see more collaboration and partnership with the public in identifying solutions so we can spend our time trying to solve problems instead of coming here for every meeting [to speak] for two minutes. The net result of this is to build community trust,” he said. “The next objective is to address and recommend solutions to priority issues that have been raised.”

Commissioner Daniel Tangney said he was concerned about the potential for bias within the advisory committee, noting that many of Responsible Growth Arcata’s members already have strong views surrounding the Gateway Area Plan.

“There’s some angle already exposed here,” he said. “If Responsible Growth Arcata is crafting this in any way I feel like we’re heading towards a train wreck because some of these things that you’ve outlined [in your letter] are totally antithetical…to what the Gateway Area Plan presently proposes.”

He acknowledged that the committee “sounded really great for developing community input and trust and everything else” but maintained that there was already “a deck stacked against what has already been proposed.”

Vice-Chair Scott Davies worried that the advisory committee would be redundant.

“There are any number of committees already in the City of Arcata…all involving city volunteers, all of whom have spent time interacting with city staff already…and I’m curious, why do you feel that those individual groups reviewing the Gateway Plan are not able to bring the same process to bear that the committee you’re proposing does?” Davies asked. “How is this not going to be redundant to efforts that have already been made by all these citizens of Arcata in all of these already existing committees?”

McBain maintained that a Gateway-specific committee would allow its members to really delve into the particulars of the project and “roll up our sleeves and try to figure out how to do this.”

Commissioner Kimberley White spoke in favor of the advisory committee and said it had the potential to get more community members involved.

“Some people feel as though this is just going to slow down the process. I think rather than slowing it down, it’s actually going to speed it up,” she said. “This [plan] is going to affect Arcata forever. …If we don’t do the process correctly and we don’t have all the voices heard, we’re not going to have housing anytime in the near future. I think this is the way to move forward and a way to include all of the voices.”

Public comment was split as well. About half of the commenters agreed with White and felt a Gateway advisory committee could enhance public outreach efforts. Others felt the committee would just slow down the planning process.

The commission ultimately decided not to make a recommendation for or against the formation of an advisory committee, leaving the decision to the City Council. The City Council will likely discuss the matter during its regular Aug. 17 meeting.

Delo Freitas, senior planner for the City of Arcata, asked commissioners to mull over a few questions that will be discussed during the upcoming study session with the Arcata City Council. The study session will focus on building height, amenities and the timeline and process for the review of the draft Gateway Area Plan.

Freitas asked commissioners the following questions:

• Do we want to recommend limiting the maximum building height
• Do we want to recommend limiting the maximum building height in certain districts?
• Which amenities, if any or all, do we consider actual amenities and which, if any, do we consider “standard requirements”?
• Should we require setbacks from the sidewalk or shall we allow structures to be built right up to the sidewalk?
• Do we want to recommend maximum residential density caps?

After a bit of deliberation, Freitas reminded commissioners that the primary purpose of the discussion was to get everybody on the same page ahead of the joint study session. “Our goal is to try and understand, you know, what are the main sources of concern and areas where [staff] needs to go back and find more information to be prepared for that session.”

The commission agreed to move forward without taking a vote or offering any firm recommendations to staff. 

What’s next? Arcata’s Community Development Department will host another informational webinar surrounding the next steps in developing form-based code for the Arcata Gateway Area on Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 6 p.m. (Here’s a link to the previous webinar.) The big joint study session will take place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 23.

Do you have strong feelings (or really any feeling at all) about the Gateway Area Plan? Tell commissioners! Tell the council! Tell Community Development Director David Loya! You can find all those email addresses at this link.

PREVIOUSLY:

• ARCATA’S GATEWAY PLAN: City Releases Draft Plan For Developing Housing in the 138-Acre ‘Gateway Area’ of Town, and Wants Your Input
• Arcata City Council Approves Plan to Convert Valley West Hotels to Homeless Housing, Reviews ‘Gateway Area Plan’ to Create High-Density Housing in Town
• GUEST OPINION: Gateway Plan Does Housing the Right Way
• ARCATA’S GATEWAY PLAN: Planners Propose Converting K and L to One-Way Streets; Transportation and Safety Committee Will Review Plan This Evening
• Confused About Arcata’s Gateway Area Plan? There are Still Opportunities to Learn More and Provide Feedback About How You Want the City to Create More Housing
• Arcata Mayor Atkins-Salazar Can’t Participate in Gateway Plan Work, Says State’s Fair Political Practice Commission in Response to City’s Request for Guidance
• (UPDATE) Arcata’s Mayor Can’t Participate in the City-Defining Gateway Area Plan; These Two Current Candidates for City Council Probably Can’t Either, for the Same Reason
• HUMBOLDT HOLDING UP: Catching Up on the Arcata Gateway Plan With Senior Planner Delo Freitas
• Want to Learn More About Arcata’s Gateway Plan? City Holding Public Meeting on Wednesday to Answer Your Questions
• A Big Week for the Arcata Gateway Area Plan: Planning Commission, Historical Landmarks Committee to Look at the Area’s Past and Future 
• A Big Public Meetings on Nordic Aquafarms and Arcata’s Gateway Area Plan Tonight
• ARCATA’S GATEWAY PLAN: Big Meetings Coming! Planning Commission to Consider New Public Engagement Approach Ahead of Big Study Session Later This Month

Photos/video: Andrew Goff

UPDATE, 2:06 p.m.: Several witnesses at the scene tell the Outpost’s Andrew Goff that the fire was preceded by an explosion of some kind. “Our entire building shook like crazy,” said one neighbor.

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Just a few minutes ago, an outbuilding attached to a Second Street duplex just a couple of blocks from the library went up in flames.

The first call came into Humboldt Bay Fire’s dispatch center at about 1:45 p.m. Witnesses reported seeing flames and black smoke coming from the building, between I and J streets. Dispatch ordered a large response.

The first units at the scene discovered that the fire was an an outbuilding attached to the rear of the duplex. Firefighters are attacking the blaze now. Arcata Fire is responding to cover calls for Humboldt Bay while the local agency is tied up at the scene.

Second Street and J street are both closed at that intersection. We’ll update.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom today unveiled a broad strategy for bolstering the state’s water supply that includes targets to recycle more water, expand reservoir storage and collect more data on the amounts farmers use.

Newsom warned that new strategies are essential because California’s water supply will shrink by 10% as climate change brings warmer, drier conditions throughout the state.

The plan, however, has limited details, distant deadlines and does not include a water conservation mandate.

It also does not include measures to substantially address water use by agriculture, which uses about four times more water in California than people in urban areas use.

Included in the strategy are possible grants to fallow fields and collect timely data on how much surface water growers use. It also floats the possibility of regulations to curtail growers’ pumping from rivers and streams beyond during drought emergencies.

The new strategy mentions that the state’s administration of its complex and archaic water rights system — entrenched since the Gold Rush — needs changes. ”That is something (Newsom) will lean into,” Anthony York, a spokesperson for the governor, told CalMatters. “That’s a huge deal for ag.”

Despite an ongoing drought that grips the state, the governor’s strategies will not increase the amounts of water available to urban areas and farms in the near future: For instance, it sets a 2030 target for recycling 800,000 acre-feet of water by 2030 — an 8% increase from the amount recycled in 2020.

The drought “is not a short-term situation. It’s the new reality. And we cannot conserve our way out of this given how our climate has changed,” said York.

In the 19-page document released today, the Newsom administration outlined efforts that include bolstering recycled water supplies and storage capacity, both in reservoirs and groundwater. They also include:

• Increasing desalination of brackish water by 28,000 acre-feet per year by 2030 and 84,000 acre-feet per year by 2040. An acre foot of water can serve on average three Southern California households for a year.
• Expanding reservoir and groundwater storage by about 4 million acre-feet – through more groundwater recharge, stormwater capture, completing storage projects and expanding or rehabilitating existing reservoirs and dams.
• Finalizing water efficiency standards for houses and businesses called for by 2018 “in ways that make sense in each region.”
• Considering rules or other ways to “streamline and modernize the water right system, clarify senior water rights, and establish more equitable fees.”

The report also touted the state’s controversial tunnel proposal to replumb the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and pump more water south. Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe criticized the tunnel plan during remarks today with Newsom, although he voiced support for the rest of the administration’s water strategy.

The strategies were already “identified broadly” in the state’s Water Resilience Portfolio, a news release says, “but they will now be expedited given the urgency of climate driven changes.”

Peter Gleick, co-founder and senior fellow at The Pacific Institute, a global water think-tank, applauded the announcement, but noted its limitations.

“Many of the things in this strategy are important, many of these things need to be done. All of them need to be done faster. And there’s some gaps,” Gleick said. “There’s very little in here for agriculture … a hard challenge, because there are fewer knobs and levers that the state can turn and twist here.”

For urban users, Newsom has yet to follow in the footsteps of former Gov. Jerry Brown, who imposed a statewide conservation mandate. Newsom has thus far preferred to leave the details to local water agencies in what he has called a “mandate of local mandates.”

But water use has not substantially declined under his voluntary measures. Urban usage dropped by about 7.6% in June compared to two years ago, but only 2.7% since last July compared to the same stretch in 2020.

Today’s press conference, with a backdrop of the Antioch Brackish Desalination Plant, comes on the heels of a poll revealing that more than two-thirds of Californian adults surveyed say that state and local governments must do more to combat the current drought, according to a recent Public Policy Institute of California poll.

Newsom’s announcement also follows a high-profile resignation of a California water official who lambasted the administration for “nearly eviscerat(ing)” the state water board’s “ability to tackle big challenges.”

He called on the Legislature, in its last weeks of session, to “streamline processes so projects can be planned, permitted and built more quickly, while protecting the environment.”

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Press release from the Arcata Police Department:

On 08/10/22, at approximately 1225 hours, officers from the Arcata Police Department were dispatched to Rays Food Place (5000 Valley West Blvd) on the report of a robbery in progress.

Upon arrival, officers were advised by the on-site security officer, two males had entered the business and filled a cart with food and alcohol and attempted to leave without paying. The security officer stopped the men, at which time he became involved in a physical fight with one of the subjects. The second subject pulled a handgun from his waistband and pointed it at the security officer. The security officer backed away and both men fled on foot.

A citizen in the area observed the altercation and began to follow the two men in his vehicle. One of the subjects again pulled a handgun from his waistband and pointed it at the citizen. The citizen stopped, and both men continued away from the scene.

Officers, utilizing video surveillance, were able to determine the men had fled to a nearby hotel. Additional investigation revealed the men were staying in a room at the hotel located in the 4800 blk of Valley West Blvd. Officers contacted the subjects and were able to take them into custody without further incident.

Kobe Sai Nhamnhouane, 18 of Redding and a 17-year-old male juvenile also from Redding, were taken into custody for suspected violations of PC 211- Robbery, and PC 245- Assault with a Deadly Weapon.

A search warrant was obtained for the motel room and two handguns were located.

Anyone with additional information related to this event is encouraged to call the Arcata Police Department at (707)822-2428.

A food distribution in Orleans, during the fires a few years ago. Photo: Food for People.

Press release from Food for People:

This Friday, August 12th from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Food for People, in partnership with Pay It Forward Humboldt and the Red Cross, will host a free food distribution at the Trinity Valley School to support those impacted by the Six Rivers Lightning Complex wildfire. This time is subject to change based on fire conditions, Food for People will continue to update if anything changes due to unsafe conditions.

• What: Wildfire Emergency Food Distribution
• When: Friday, August 12, 2022 at 1-3pm
• Where: Trinity Valley School, 730 CA-96 Willow Creek, CA 95573

For: Anyone impacted by the Six Rivers Lightning Complex Fire

For those have been displaced by wildfire, experienced a PG&E PSPS event or power outage and need food replacement support, are encouraged to visit Food for People’s website at www.foodforpeople.org for a list of regular food distribution sites throughout Humboldt County. Or contact Food for People’s Emergency Food Response Coordinator Robert Sataua at Emergency@foodforpeople.org or (707) 633-8191.

For years, the idea of establishing supervised drug injection sites has been a long-standing goal for some progressive California leaders looking to address the burgeoning overdose crisis. Efforts to launch such programs have come close, but never to the finish line.

Now, as the latest legislation seeking to sanction these sites heads to the governor’s desk, proponents are gearing up to make these injection sites a reality — and they hope a success — in the Golden State.

Senate Bill 57 would authorize these overdose prevention pilot programs in Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, which would operate through Jan. 1, 2028.

While former Gov. Jerry Brown rejected similar legislation in 2018, supporters are hopeful Gov. Gavin Newsom will sign this one after he said he was open to the idea during his campaign for governor.

“We have been engaging with the governor’s office for the past four years on this measure. We haven’t heard that he’s not going to sign it, so we’re hopeful that he’ll stick to his word from 2018,” said Jeannette Zanipatin, California state director of the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group that works to decriminalize drugs and a co-sponsor of the bill.

Alex Stack, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said they don’t comment on pending legislation.

But if Newsom does sign it, what exactly would these sites look like? Who would be responsible for staffing them and how will they be funded? The details and logistics will be left to local officials.

“They are asking us to help them address the escalations and crisis of overdose deaths that we’re experiencing in California.”
— Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat

Because San Francisco has been considering this idea for almost a decade, it would likely be the first ready to launch a program in early 2023, Zanipatin said. Supervised injection sites could cost a couple of million dollars per year to run, and cities and counties that choose to establish these programs will have to find their own source of funding.

Last year, New York City became the first to establish supervised injection sites in the U.S. Cities in other countries have operated such centers for years, including Vancouver, Mexicali and Barcelona. The Vancouver site is often referenced as a model — with about 1,700 individuals using it each month, the center is credited with reducing overdose deaths in its neighborhood and city. Switzerland was the first country to open a supervised injection site in 1986.

The goal of these programs, supporters say, is to provide drug users a safe, hygienic space where they can get clean needles and administer their own drugs under the supervision of trained staff. Staff members would monitor users and be ready to administer overdose reversal medications if needed, which could ultimately save lives. Medical groups in support of these programs have pointed out injection sites could also help reduce the risk of Hepatitis C and HIV infections associated with intravenous drug use.

Sen. Scott Wiener, author of the bill, said the jurisdictions that would pilot the programs asked to be included in the bill. “They are asking us to help them address the escalations and crisis of overdose deaths that we’re experiencing in California,” Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, said during an Aug. 1 legislative hearing.

Those in opposition to Wiener’s bill, including Republican legislators and law enforcement groups, argue these programs are a type of addiction maintenance that normalize illegal behavior.

Before setting up their overdose prevention programs, the cities and counties must provide local health and law enforcement officials the opportunity to weigh in. Once set up, these centers must make referrals to substance use disorder treatment programs and other social services if the user wishes to access them. The bill would also protect people from criminal charges for using the sites.

The overdose crisis has become one of the most pressing public health issues, with deaths and emergency room visits spiking in recent years, in large part due to the infiltration of the synthetic opioid fentanyl. Overdose deaths from fentanyl jumped from 1,603 in 2019 to 3,946 in 2020, and then to 5,722 in 2021, according to the California Opioid Overdose Surveillance Dashboard.

California’s second swing at this policy comes as the Biden administration is also embracing “harm reduction” strategies — which focus on keeping drug users alive and safe rather than punishing them. Needle exchange programs and programs that distribute the overdose reversal drug naloxone are some examples.

Among those urging the governor to veto the bill is the Senate Republican Caucus. “Fueling the drug epidemic with drug dens and needle supplies is like pouring gasoline on a forest fire. It merely worsens the problem,” the caucus wrote in an Aug. 1 letter to Newsom.

Law enforcement organizations have stated their opposition to the bill, saying it sends the wrong message to the public and fails to address addiction at its root.

Wiener and supporters of the bill say supervised injection sites will not solve the overdose crisis. Rather, the goal is to prevent deaths.

Opponents have also raised concerns about the bill not providing a “cognizable strategy for figuring out how to get the addict to the injection site,” John Lovell, a lobbyist with the California Narcotic Officers’ Association, said during last week’s hearing. “What injection sites do is there is a magnet effect so that people come into the area,” but that doesn’t mean they will actually go inside the facility, he said.

Laura Thomas, director of HIV and harm reduction policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, another co-sponsor of the bill, said she doesn’t think getting people into these centers will be a challenge. “Overwhelmingly, people would prefer to use in a clean space. No one wants to be using drugs on the sidewalk. If we give people a better option they will use it,” she said.

An often-referenced survey of 602 injection drug users in San Francisco showed that 85% would use a supervised injection site. About 75% of them said they would use it at least three days per week.

“Fueling the drug epidemic with drug dens and needle supplies is like pouring gasoline on a forest fire.”
— Senate Republican Caucus

The idea, according to supporters, is to build trust with people who come in, prompting them to spread the word and eventually link people to treatment when they are ready. These centers often look like a clinic, and people usually go through a brief interview when they first walk in.

Thomas said that while it would be ideal for such centers to be open 24/7, realistically, hours of operation would be dependent on funding. That same San Francisco study showed that 62% of the drug users surveyed preferred a supervised injection site to be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Funding could prove to be a challenge in the long term. In New York City, where two safe injection sites opened last fall, the city and state do not pay for them. The nonprofits running the programs seek private donations, making it difficult for the centers to extend their hours or expand into other neighborhoods.

A supervised injection site in San Francisco is estimated to cost about $2.6 million a year, according to RTI International, a nonprofit research institute.

Thomas said California community organizations that already work in the field of substance use disorders would be best-equipped to run the programs, but funding should come from public health departments because they are a public benefit.

Some of the cities and counties included in the bill have potential public funding streams. For example, Los Angeles County voters in 2020 passed Measure J, which allows the county to use at least 10% of its locally generated, unrestricted funding for community investment programs, which could include overdose prevention programs.

“We’re also hoping that these pilot projects serve as a catalyst and identify some private-public partnerships,” Zanipatin said.

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.