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PREVIOUSLY: Harbor District to Consider Issuing Permit to Allow Repair (Rebuild?) of a Fallen Billboard in Humboldt Bay Tidelands

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The Humboldt Bay Harbor District’s Board of Commissioners last night decided that they need more information before green-lighting the repair/rebuilding of a billboard that’s been lying face-down in Humboldt Bay since winter.

In a 3-0 vote, with Commissioners Craig Benson and Patrick Higgins absent, the board opted to require an initial study under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) before ruling on a permit application from OutFront Media, the advertising company that owns the billboard.

Harbor District staff had characterized the project as a “repair” of an existing billboard, though plans to re-erect the thing involved removing the existing uprights and using an excavator to pile-drive a dozen new posts 10 feet into the ground. Staff’s assessment found that the project was exempt from CEQA review because the new structure would be located on the same site and have the same purpose and capacity as the one being replaced. 

But at last night’s meeting, Division 3 Commissioner Stephen Kullman suggested that there may be unusual circumstances in this case due to the ongoing construction of the Humboldt Bay Trail, among other factors.

In an email, Harbor District Director of Development Rob Holmlund explained that since this stretch of Hwy. 101 is not a state-designated scenic highway, impacts to the beautiful bay view don’t automatically trigger CEQA review. But there can be an exception to otherwise CEQA-exempt projects under special circumstances.

The CEQA initial study could find that the project is indeed exempt from further review, or it could require more of it — either a Negative Declaration, a Mitigated Negative Declaration or a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR), Holmlund explained.

The Board also voted to continue the item to a “date certain,” scheduled for November 20th. If the Initial Study is done by then, the board will decide which path to take next.