Last night the Eureka City Council passed a resolution approving Danco Communities to construct the EaRTH Center, a large housing and transit development that will replace two parking lots in downtown Eureka. After a long stop-and-go process, the project could finally break ground by next year if all goes as planned. 

The EaRTH Center (short for Eureka Regional Transit and Housing Center) will be between three and five stories tall and could include up to 99 units on its upper floors. The first floor will be dedicated to an intermodal transit center, plus a few commercial spaces for businesses.

The project has been controversial in the past due to the strain it may create on parking availability downtown. The Eureka “Housing for All” Initiative, which will go to Eureka voters in November, specifically seeks to stymie it.

At the meeting, City Manager Miles Slattery explained the winding history that led to the proposed partnership with Danco. 

The two lots, located on Third Street between G and H streets, were initially considered for developments to house Cal Poly Humboldt professors and graduate students several years ago. Plans for the multi-story building evolved to include a transit center on its first floor, a project that the Humboldt Transit Authority received a $10 million grant to pursue. The City Council approved the construction company Servitas for the project in 2022, but the university and Servitas later left due to expenses. 

Briefly, College of the Redwoods considered joining the project to gain student housing, but the slow approval process for securing the necessary grant funding led the City to look elsewhere. City staff then reached out to Danco, eager to get the ball rolling again (the Humboldt Transit Authority grant has a time signature on it, Councilmember Leslie Castellano said during the meeting). 

Slattery said that the City of Eureka, Humboldt Transit Authority, and Danco will soon set up meetings to finalize the designs. “The intent will be to try to be consistent with what we were previously designing,” he said.

The City Council was asked to consider a resolution to establish two things: first, declare the EaRTH Center exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), allowable due to its consistency with Eureka’s General Plan Environmental Impact Report, and second, authorize the City Manager to enter negotiations with Danco for a Disposition and Development Agreement.

During a public hearing, Danco Communities President Chris Dart said the company is well equipped to bring the project to life. 

“If you do vote tonight, we appreciate your trust,” Dart said. “We will work diligently to design, permit, finance and construct this project. And as you know, that can take some time, but we will put all of our efforts in and make this a priority.”

Though a couple people passionately opposed the project due to parking constraints, most commenters urged the Council to finally build the EaRTH Center.

Colin Fiske, who is with the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, said that Eureka has long needed a transit center and accessible housing. 

“This project is a great way to fill both of those needs,” Fiske said. “It’s a little unfortunate that there have been so many delays so far, but we would encourage you to do whatever you need to to move the project along.”

During discussion, all council members agreed that the benefits of affordable housing downtown outweigh the costs of parking inconvenience. Councilmember Scott Bauer said that affordable housing is the most critical need in the community, and Councilmember Renee Contreras-DeLoach said that “a lot of people are stuck in really subpar rentals that are not safe and not clean.”

Some said they themselves would have to walk more, but would be happy to. 

“As someone who works in Old Town, has lived in Old Town, has had a small business in Old Town, I personally am thrilled,” Castellano said. “I do park in that parking lot, and will gladly walk an extra couple of blocks, or ride the bus, or walk to work […] in order to ensure that people have access to housing.”

Though the parking lots were once needed, “times change, and needs change” said Councilmember Kati Moulton. 

“Choosing an underutilized parking lot over affordable housing – when people are sleeping on the streets, when families are living in their cars […] – choosing an additional parking space so that people can walk a little bit less in our vibrant and beautiful Old Town just seems inhumane,” Moulton said.

In the past, folks have worried that losing the parking lots will harm local businesses, but some council members held that new housing downtown will have the opposite impact. 

Renters who qualify for affordable housing are likely to invest money previously used for rent back into the community, Castellano said. 

“I think it’s gonna make a big difference to have that many people who all of a sudden have a little more money to spend, who have been seeing like 50, 60 percent of their income they’re making every month go just to paying rent.”

Though parking facilities are not included in the EaRTH Center plans, some council members expressed interest in discussing possibilities for new parking developments down the line. 

Following the discussion, Castellano made a motion and the resolution passed unanimously.

Elsewhere in last night’s meeting, the Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine Conflict. They also looked at the 2024-2025 proposed budget and heard the results of a homelessness survey from the Eureka Police Department.