Plans for the North McKay Ranch Subdivision include up to 320 residential units, including up to 172 multi-family units, along with 22,000 square feet of commercial development on a total of about 81 acres.
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A coalition of environmental groups has issued a letter to the county demanding additional mitigation measures for the North McKay Ranch subdivision, a large-scale mixed-use development approved by the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors last month.
The letter was sent on behalf of six nonprofit environmental organizations: the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), Humboldt Baykeeper, the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, the Northcoast Environmental Center, 350 Humboldt and San Francisco-based EarthJustice.
The organizations say that by approving the project’s Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR), the county violated state environmental law by failing to adequately analyze project impacts and refusing to require the developer, Kurt Kramer, to implement feasible mitigation measures such as all-electric new construction.
Regarding that latter allegation, the letter says, “There is no legitimate basis for the County’s refusal to approve this feasible mitigation measure, which both addresses the climate emergency and allows for new construction that in most cases is more economic than mixed-fuel homes due to avoided gas line installation costs.”
The letter says that if the Board of Supervisors certifies the project’s FEIR, it will place the county “in legal jeopardy.”
At its March 22 meeting, the board directed staff to negotiate additional conditions, including one that would allow the developer to make improvements to pedestrian and bicycle connectivity rather than installing the two traffic lights.
The environmental groups note that final action on the project is currently scheduled for the board’s meeting this Tuesday, and they urge the board to act.
“We write to clearly and unequivocally
demand additional feasible mitigation measures including a prohibition on gas connections to the
Project’s buildings that are necessary and required to reduce the [greenhouse gas], energy, and public health
impacts resulting from the Project’s current reliance on methane gas,” the letter says.
You can read the full thing via the link below:
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DOCUMENT: Comment Letter on Final EIR for the North McKay RanchProject
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