We have been blessed with a bounty of riveting Eureka City Council content in recent months but, by comparison, this week’s agenda is looking a little dull. I mean, the dolos has found a new home at Madaket Plaza … what’s left to talk about?

I kid, I kid. There are actually some interesting items on the agenda, but it doesn’t look like the council will talk about any hot-button issues during tonight’s meeting. Even still! It is our job here at the Outpost to keep you, dear reader, informed of the decisions being made by our elected officials that keep our town running.

Now, let’s take a look at that agenda.

Digital Billboards in the Coastal Zone

During tonight’s meeting, the council will review a change to Eureka’s zoning code that would reduce the number of illuminated digital billboards allowed in the city’s coastal zone and limit the brightness of said signs.

Eureka’s planning staff has spent the last two years working with California Coastal Commission staff to update the Sign Ordinance within the city’s Local Coastal Program, a planning tool used to guide development in the coastal zone. Staff presented the modified amendment to the commission last month but were asked by commissioners and members of the public to adopt stricter regulations.

“During the meeting, City staff went back and forth with Commissioner [Mike] Wilson and commission staff to try to negotiate an ordinance that staff hoped could be accepted by the Coastal Commission, as well as City Council, and still provide enforceable regulations, while allowing the use of some digital signs,” the staff report states. “Commissioner Wilson’s concerns focused primarily on brightness and ensuring digital signs would be Dark Sky compliant so there would be no impacts to coastal resources, and there would be no annoying glare for drivers.”

Wilson and two other commissioners urged the city to completely ban the construction of new digital billboards in the coastal zone, including industrially zoned areas of the coastal zone. Ultimately, staff and commissioners agreed to allow digital signs with additional limitations that would require “a Creative Sign Permit and language stating digital signs should comply with International Dark Sky Guidance,” according to the staff report.

City planning staff will introduce the proposed ordinance to council during tonight’s meeting but it will not be adopted until next month. Because the ordinance seeks to modify the city’s zoning code, the it must be introduced during one meeting and adopted in a subsequent meeting. In this case, the proposed ordinance will be presented to the council for adoption during its Sept. 20 meeting.

Upcoming Branding Strategies for Eureka

The council will also receive an update on advertising and branding strategies for Eureka from the city’s marketing firm Eddy Alexander. 

The city council selected the Virginia-based marketing firm to take over the city’s branding back in 2019 and, for the last two years, Eddy Alexander’s team has worked alongside city staff and residents to rebrand Eureka as a premier tourism destination. Through market research and community surveys, Eureka’s new “Real. Authentic. Different.” slogan emerged marking a new era for the city’s offerings.

During tonight’s meeting, Eddy Alexander’s local team will outline the next year of marketing efforts for the council. Looking at the staff report, that appears to be a lot of brand maintenance by way of quarterly meetings to keep city staff “abreast of strategic initiative[s] and opportunities as they relate to community marketing, tourism and image management.”

Pierson Properties Zone Reclassification

The council will also consider another General Plan amendment and zone reclassification request from Pierson Properties and Development LLC to change the land use designation for a piece of property located at 3116 Harrison Avenue in Eureka.

If approved, the amendments would change the property’s land use designation from Professional Office to Neighborhood Commercial and the zoning designation from Hospital Medical to Neighborhood Commercial to allow for non-medical office use in the existing building on site. 

“The current [Hospital Medical] zone district is intended to provide a centralized regional hub for healthcare-related uses…civic uses are only allowed in the [Hospital Medical] zone district [for] ancillary to medical uses,” according to the staff report. “The proposed land use designation and zoning allow for both medical and commercial offices as well as a number of other uses.”

We should note that this request is not related to the Pierson Company’s previous request to rezone a swath of land at the corner of Fairfield and Harris streets to facilitate the development of affordable housing.

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​​The Eureka City Council meets on Tuesday, August 16 at 6 p.m. at Eureka City Hall — 531 K Street. You can also watch the meeting online here.