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Last night’s Eureka City Council meeting covered quite a bit of ground, but there weren’t any big-ticket items for the council to really dig into. As such, LoCO has cooked up a little agenda sampler so you, dear reader, don’t have to go through the trouble of watching the meeting yourself. Enjoy!

EPD Staffing is “In a Really Good Place”

Two years after the Eureka Police Department declared a “severe” staffing shortage, Chief Brian Stephens said the department has rebounded and is now “in a really good place.” Two new officers are advancing from field training to solo patrols this month, three recruits are preparing to graduate from the police academy next month and, for the first time since 2008, EPD’s dispatch team is fully staffed.

Stephens | Screenshot

“It may last, it may not, we’ll see, but we’re a long way ahead of where we were several years ago,” Stephens said while presenting EPD’s quarterly report. “We’re back on the right track of getting people the help they need in our community.”

Calls for service trended down in the third quarter, which, for some reason, is in keeping with previous years’ trends, Stephens said. Officer-initiated activity, on the other hand, is way up this quarter at 101 percent.

“Our traffic stops are up 257 percent for this quarter and 228 percent for the year,” he continued. “Our bike and [pedestrian] stops are up 315 percent, and then our public transport is up 480 percent and 482 percent, respectively. This [is attributed] to the change in the mission within the department to become proactive in our policing efforts, taking an approach utilizing traffic enforcement to also root out crime and other issues within the city.”

Councilmember Leslie Castellano thanked Stephens for the presentation, noting that the staffing increase is “really a testament to your leadership.” 

The council did not take any action on the item and agreed to accept the report.

Tobacco Retailer License and Nitrous Oxide Ordinances

Last month, the city council approved a ban on nitrous oxide sales and introduced new rules for tobacco retailers. At last night’s meeting, the council unanimously voted to finalize the ordinances, which are set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

The nitrous oxide ban is part of a nationwide effort to limit the availability of the substance — commonly referred to as laughing gas or whippits when used as an inhalant — which has surged in popularity among teenagers and young adults in recent years. 

Earlier this year, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors became one of the first California counties to pass a retail ban on nitrous oxide in unincorporated areas of the county. The City of Eureka and other local municipalities have been working on their own ordinances since last year.

During its last meeting on Oct. 22, the council asked staff to make an exception for restaurants and coffee shops that use nitrous oxide as a charging agent to make fresh whipped cream. Staff agreed to add the following section:

This section does not apply to the sale or distribution of nitrous oxide by a wholesale distributor of food supplies directly to the location of a food preparation facility located in the City of Eureka, provided that that transaction is documented by a manifest stating the date, time, quantity, and type of nitrous oxide product delivered and certified by the food preparation facility individual in charge in charge on site that the product has been received by that facility solely for the purpose of food preparation.

The council approved the ordinance — linked here — in a 5-0 vote.

City Manager Miles Slattery also went over the amendments the council had requested for the Tobacco Retail Licensing Ordinance, which aims to reduce accessibility to tobacco products by placing new limits on tobacco retailers’ licenses. Under the ordinance, licenses are nontransferable. 

“A tobacco retailer’s license is nontransferable and is valid only for the person and location of license issued, and unless it is suspended or revoked for cause, for the period indicated,” the ordinance states. “If the business is sold, the new owner must apply for a license for that location before acting as a tobacco retailer.”

The ordinance also bans tobacco retailers from operating within 600 feet of a school or community center. Per the council’s request, staff added additional language to clarify the definition of a community center, which ranges from spas to music studios to rooftop recreation facilities.

“Basically, a community center is anything but a tobacco retailer,” Slattery joked. 

After a bit of discussion, the council approved the ordinance in a 5-0 vote. 

Before moving on to the next item, Councilmember Renee Contreras-DeLoach noted, “These two back-to-back things, I just think we’re doing something really good. We have an opportunity to make things a little bit safer for kids and their families … and I’m grateful.”

So long, Marina Center Project

The council also briefly discussed the official end of the “Marina Center” project, a controversial mixed-use development proposed by Rob and Cherie Arkley that, had it come to fruition, would have transformed the Balloon Track, the old railyard on Waterfront Drive, into a retail district anchored by a Home Depot. 

The Arkleys, through their commercial real estate firm Security National, bought the 43-acre property and rallied the community to get a measure on the November 2010 ballot to rezone the site for new development. Measure N passed with nearly 70 percent of the vote that year, but since the property lies in California’s Coastal Zone, it required approval from the California Coastal Commission. 

The City of Eureka submitted the proposal to the commission for consideration, but its staff deemed the request “incomplete,” noting that the proposed zoning changes were incompatible with the Coastal Act. The proposal hasn’t gone anywhere in the last 15 years.

Why is this coming up now, you ask? Development Services Director Cristin Kenyon described the agenda item, which was pulled from the consent calendar for further discussion, as an “administrative cleanup item that’s been needed for some time now.”

“It’s now been 15 years, and the measure has not been certified by the Coastal Commission,” she said. “Staff and the city and the property owner still support a vision of infill development at the site, but have recognized that Measure N isn’t the path to get there.”

Kenyon noted that the property owners are cleaning up the site, but couldn’t say what their plans are for the future.

The council approved the request to withdraw the Measure N local coastal program amendment in a 5-0 vote.

Eureka Emergency Operations Procedure

A little earlier in the meeting, the council received a presentation on the city’s 2025 Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), which takes a “whole community” approach to emergency response that integrates community partners, neighbors and other stakeholders in all phases of management.

“Through these collaborative efforts, the city will be better prepared to meet the needs of its residents and daytime populace alike, especially those with disabilities and others with access and functional needs,” the EOP states. “This plan also demonstrates how the city complies with and implements the requirements of the California Emergency Services Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in order to protect the lives, property and environment of the residents of Eureka.”

Bauer | Screenshot

In the event of an emergency, the city manager would serve as the director of emergency services. In the absence of a city manager, “designated staff may assume that role,” the EOP states. Councilmember Scott Bauer asked if staff would be willing to add a specific staff person to the role of “designated staff” so there’s a clear chain of command. 

“I mean, if a building falls on [the city manager], he’s not going to be able to designate anybody,” Bauer said with a chuckle. “If there’s a big earthquake, it could be a problem.”

“You’re not supposed to smile when you say that,” Slattery said.

“That’s the same thing I was thinking,” Contreras-DeLoach said. “Not because any of us are planning for a building to fall on our city manager!”

Staff underscored the importance of spreading the word to community members, given that the EOP takes a “whole community” approach. Public Works Analyst Kristin Galt said staff will work on a public information campaign and host a community meeting sometime in the coming months to let folks know about the new plan.

The council unanimously agreed to adopt the plan, which can be read in full here.

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