Do you wonder why Cal Poly Humboldt students are living in motel rooms in Valley West? They are there because of Arcata’s lack of housing, and lack of will to develop housing. Take the loss of the Village Student Housing Project at the former Craftsman’s Mall site. You may remember that members of our community, our past Planning Commission, and our past City Council killed the project after three years of effort. If the Village had been approved, it would be built and in use today, housing nearly 700 students within walking distance of the campus.

The Arcata Planning Commission held 12 meetings and certified the Environmental Impact Report but ultimately denied the project. The developer went before the Arcata City Council with a substantial redesign to the project, and the Environmental Impact Report review. The project was not approved. The developer spent nearly a half-million dollars in the process, including accommodating public input regarding design and scope to no avail, finally throwing up their hands and walking away. The warning, “Do not touch Arcata” spread like wildfire amongst California’s development community professionals.

In the end, the Village developer contacted Cal Poly and offered their plans and documents. The existing dire need for housing in Humboldt, coupled Cal Poly’s plans for expanding student enrollment, meant they could meet some of their housing needs with the former Craftsman’s Mall project – without City government approval, permits or public input.

As for the City of Arcata, the defeat of the Village Project significantly impacted the City of Arcata’s coffers: no property tax allocation (Cal Poly is not required to pay them), reduced sales tax, and no development fees (which again, Cal Poly is not required to pay). Arcata’s general funds are comprised of sales tax, bed tax, and fees for services to support a balanced budget.

The lengthy debacle of the Village Project was disheartening and set housing for students back by three years. It is fortunate that Cal Poly was able to secure the property and be under construction to provide modern student housing with amenities.

Arcata has long been affected by the lack of housing. Rents continue to soar and consequently make Arcata unaffordable for many households. Unaffordable rents in Arcata and all of Humboldt County cause more people to become houseless.

The Arcata Gateway Plan, which is part of the General Plan, is part of the work being done to address our housing issues. The City Council asked the Planning Commission to provide an update on the proposed plan by July. Planning Commission Chair Scott Davis will make a presentation to the Council on Wednesday, July 19th.

Public commentors thought it was unreasonable to expect the Planning Commission to meet the July deadline even though the Commission had been working through the plan for two years. They did meet the deadline, and they should be thanked and congratulated.

Gateway supporters know we need more housing for a place to live. They also know that more housing means more people to support our business community – our retail stores, restaurants, music venues, movies, Arcata Playhouse productions, and non-profit events.

Many studies show that access to housing is important for a healthy community, and housing affordable to all income levels is necessary for Arcata to thrive.

Change is inevitable and can be hard, yet it is something I have seen and been a part of since I came to this community in 1971. If changes over the last half century had not occurred, what would Arcata look like today? Are you wondering? Fifty years from now, what will people say about how we are managing change today?

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Alex Stillman is a member of the Arcata City Council.