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Parking near Cal Poly Humboldt has become an even bigger headache for students since the newly built Hinarr Hu Moulik dorms welcomed more than 500 residents at the start of the fall semester. With another 400 students expected to arrive in Spring 2026 — and only 328 parking spots available on site — university officials are moving forward with plans to build a long-term student parking lot in the Arcata Bottoms.

Some Arcata residents are not very happy at the prospect of a big, new paved parking lot at the other end of Foster Avenue, a mile away from campus.

The Foster Campus Connectivity Project would add 212 long-term parking spaces to the university’s parking supply by converting the lower four acres of a vacant 16.7-acre site at 2000 Foster Ave. into a paved lot with a shuttle station, bus shelter and bicycle storage, according to the Initial Study/Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) for the project. The campus shuttle service would transfer students from the parking lot to campus every 15 minutes, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Regular shuttle service would not be available over the weekends, with exceptions for some campus events.

Construction is expected to begin in the spring and wrap up in September 2026, depending on the length of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review process.

Why build a parking lot way out in the Arcata Bottoms? In short, there isn’t much vacant or developable land around campus, and finding new space has become a critical component of the polytechnic transformation that launched in 2021.

In 2022, the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees, on behalf of Cal Poly Humboldt, purchased the Foster Ave. property for $5.4 million from a group of business partners that included Danco owner Dan Johnson and Sun Valley Farms CEO Lane DeVries. At that time, the university didn’t have any specific plans for the site, noting in a somewhat vague statement that the land would be used to “support any number of institutional priorities” and “play a vital role in efforts to provide a positive, meaningful educational experience for students.”

Expanding the parking supply has been at the top of the university’s list for years. A 2018 parking study, conducted by Walker Consultants, determined the university’s parking lots are “saturated” with “peak occupancy of parking spaces on the main campus close to 100 percent.” The Humboldt State University 2004 Master Plan identified a property east of campus, near Union and 17th streets, as a potential site for a multi-level parking structure that could house up to 1,000 vehicles, but the university never purchased the property.

University officials are optimistic that the Foster Campus Connectivity Project will alleviate the parking shortage, even though it’s one mile away from campus. 

“We know that proximity matters and that’s been a big focus of the Foster Campus,” Mike Fisher, acting vice president of administration and finance, wrote in an emailed response to the Outpost. “It’s just over a mile from campus and will be served by the University shuttle service with regular routes to and from the main campus as well as Hinarr Hu Moulik. … The Foster Campus will also feature secure and sheltered bike parking and will expand the bike rental program we already run with the City of Arcata. Together, these steps are designed to make the ‘last mile’ between Foster and campus easier, more sustainable, and more convenient.”

Fisher added that the new shuttle service between campus and the Hinarr Hu Moulik dorms has been “well received” by students so far, with ridership continuing to increase. 

The proposed parking lot is just one component of the university’s long-term vision for the so-called Foster Avenue District. The 2025 Campus Physical Plan, which has yet to be adopted, envisions the 16.7-acre site as a hub for athletics, with three “state-of-the-art” sports fields, an indoor athletics complex, “upper division” housing and a pond.

A quick aside: The 2025 Campus Physical Plan is really something! It outlines the university’s development priorities for the next 20-plus years, which include enhanced academic facilities and expanded green spaces to promote a “vibrant campus culture that fosters connectivity and well-being.” The ambitious plan reimagines B Street, which runs through the center of campus, as a pedestrian corridor. The plan also references the Arcata Cap — a seemingly far-fetched plan to build five acres of new land above Highway 101 between 14th and 17th to accommodate housing and other community resources — which would connect the campus to downtown Arcata.

Still, Fisher emphasized that the plan has yet to be adopted. As such, it wasn’t used as the basis for the IS/MND for the Foster Ave. parking lot.

“The Campus Physical Plan is intended as a long-term framework — a vision for how the University might grow over the next 10-20 years,” Fisher explained. “The rendering [of the Foster Ave. District referenced in the plan] reflects possibilities, not active projects, and it’s designed to be flexible based on factors like budget, enrollment, and community needs. At this time, there are no plans to begin developing the remaining space.”

The Notice of Intent for the IS/MND determined that the Foster Ave. project “would not have a significant adverse effect on the environment” as long as mitigation measures for “aesthetic resources, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, noise, and tribal cultural resources” are implemented. 

However, some residents feel an environmental impact report (EIR) should be required to assess the full scale of the project. Greg King, a resident of Arcata and executive director of the Siskiyou Land Conservancy, said the proposed parking lot “will result in significant, cumulative, adverse ecological impacts on the biological resources of the Arcata Bottoms … .”

“The university’s proposal to pave a wide swath of the Arcata Bottoms for a student parking lot is a threat to public safety, traffic, and the agricultural and ecological integrity of the Bottoms,” King wrote in a letter to the university shared with the Outpost. “The proposal demonstrates a clear lack of vision and creativity on behalf of the University, and once again foists upon the larger Arcata Community the many problems associated with the University’s desired expansion.”

King felt the parking garage proposal outlined in the 2004 Campus Plan “is the solution” to the university’s parking woes. He cautioned against “paving over wide swaths of greater Arcata” to meet parking demands.

“[W]e are here to support sound and empathetic proposals for [Cal Poly Humboldt’s] expansion in Arcata,” he continued. “This parking lot idea is not at all sound, and the only empathy it demonstrates is for the University’s desire to engage the easiest solutions to complex problems no matter the many negative impacts of these solutions on the greater Arcata community.”

The public comment period for the IS/MND ended on Monday. Now, the university will address comments made on the document and make necessary adjustments for approval. If everything goes according to plan, the university will break ground on the parking lot next spring. 

Asked what Cal Poly Humboldt is doing to address immediate parking concerns in the neighborhood surrounding the Hinarr Hu Moulik dorms, Fisher said the university is “actively working with the City of Arcata to find workable solutions.”

“The one-permit-per-space system at Hinarr Hu Moulik was designed so that residents know upfront whether they’ll have a guaranteed space in the lot or not,” Fisher said. “This transparency helps students make informed decisions about whether to bring a vehicle. Students without a permit can instead purchase a resident parking permit for the main campus and are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the University’s shuttle service, which runs between Hinarr Hu Moulik (and in the future, the Foster campus) and the main campus seven days a week.”

“These measures are designed to help manage capacity while also providing students with reliable transportation alternatives,” he continued. “We remain committed to working closely with both our students and the City of Arcata to minimize impacts.”

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DOCUMENTS:

• IS/MND for Foster Campus Connectivity Project
• 2025 Campus Physical Plan