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Humboldt County is moving forward with a plan to reroute a vulnerable stretch of Centerville Road inland to prevent the erosion-plagued road from one day crumbling into the ocean. 

At Tuesday’s meeting, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to approve a long-term plan to move Centerville Road away from the rapidly eroding coastal cliffs it currently sits atop and establish a new inland connection at the top of the bluff. While it remains unclear how much it would cost and how exactly it would be funded, county staff feel the “inland retreat approach” would be a better use of public funds than a previously proposed storm damage repair project at Centerville Beach County Park that was approved last month by the California Coastal Commission.

Speaking at today’s meeting, Hank Seemann, the county’s deputy director of Public Works, explained that Centerville Road is in a particularly precarious position given the rapid rate of erosion to the north and major bluff erosion further south that could cut off access to the Lost Coast Headlands, numerous residences and agricultural land.

“Public Works has significant concerns about the active landslide activity to the south,” Seemann said, referring to the landslide that took out a huge chunk of the bluff at Fleener Creek Overlook in 2024. “Depending on the extent of further landslide action, there could be room for road retreat, but based on topography, that potential will be limited. That raises the concern that the benefits of doing the beach project could be lost if the road to the south is severely damaged or destroyed. We’re at a point where a decision needs to be made about which option to pursue.”

Seemann presented the board with two options: 

1. Move the road inland and establish a new connection point at the top of the bluff. Staff believes the “most likely” location for a new road alignment is to improve and extend Poole Road near post mile 6.0. Under this option, “the county would need to acquire right-of-way to extend Poole Road, either through a voluntary purchase and sale agreement or eminent domain, to enable the road connection,” the staff report states.
2. Repair the road at Centerville Beach County Park, located five miles west of Ferndale. Repairs would consist of raising the elevation of the road and armoring the road with rocks to prevent additional erosion. This option was approved by the Coastal Commission with 16 special conditions aimed at mitigating environmental impacts. 

“If we discontinue the beach project and shift towards trying to develop an inland retreat option, the road at the beach would continue to be vulnerable to wave overwash and erosion, and we would expect temporary closures, significant road maintenance and even the potential for emergency response,” Seemann added. “If we proceed with the beach project, the road would be much improved, although still not eliminating all risk, and there would be much less maintenance and much, much less likelihood of emergency response.”

If the county were to move forward with the beach project and establish a new parking area, it would have to be removed within 20 to 25 years, in accordance with special conditions issued by the Coastal Commission.

Yet another complicating factor is the funding. After a series of destructive storms in 2017, the county received a chunk of funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that would have covered 88% of the cost of repairs. To apply that funding to Option 1, the inland retreat project, the county would have to make its case to the federal government and Caltrans, but it isn’t guaranteed.

“We do think it’s possible, and that would certainly be the preferred approach,” Seemann said. “If we do proceed with the beach project, then the disaster funding is already allocated and ready to go. If the board decides not to move forward with the beach project, we would decline the coastal development permit, and those conditions would not go into effect … [and it] would be status quo for motorized vehicle beach access.”

Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell asked what would happen if the county’s funding request was denied. “What would be the process, and we would just lose the money?”

Seemann said he wrestled with the decision to recommend Option 1, but ultimately did so because he felt the county taking a strong stance on the matter would improve its chances for funding.

Seemann.

“Staff made the recommendations that we did in part because we think that will improve the likelihood that the alternative location would be approved because then [the FHWA] would recognize that the county determined that we can’t go forward with the beach project,” Seemann said, but noted again that it could go either way.

Bushnell asked what would happen to Centerville Road and the parking area in the meantime.

“We would continue to keep it open until the bluff takes it completely away,” said Public Works Director Tom Mattson.

First District Supervisor Rex Bohn acknowledged that the coastal cliffs near Fleener Creek “haven’t moved much” since the big landslide in 2024, but felt moving the road further inland was inevitable.

“We know it’s going to move again,” he said. “… I think we’re going to have to look for another route, [but] it’s not going to make everybody happy.”

Several Ferndale-area residents spoke during the public comment portion of the discussion, some of whom, as Bohn predicted, were opposed to rerouting Centerville Road. One resident, Lorraine Pedrotti, criticized the county for failing to contact Poole Road residents ahead of the meeting and expressed concern about pursuing an alternative route with no guaranteed funding.

“Giving up secured funding without a clear understanding of the feasibility, cost and timeline of an alternative seems premature,” she said. “Crossing your fingers and hoping state and federal funding for a much bigger project will come through seems like a poor financial decision. I realize there’s a need [for] a long-term solution, but in the meantime, dealing with a sometimes unpassable [sic] road for years is not acceptable.”

Feierabend

Ferndale resident Dylan Feierabend had a different take. He said he grew up going to Centerville Beach and felt the county should invest in a long-term solution. “Significant erosion is going to happen,” he said. “That road is going to eventually go away.”

Feierabend’s comments were mostly focused on off-roading on Centerville Beach, which would be effectively banned if the county were to move forward with the coastal development permit to repair the parking area. He emphasized the economic draw for the county.

“There’s a group of about 10 individuals from Cottonwood that come and spend eight days a year up here [to] go fishing every single day [and] spend money in the community,” he said. “That’s money this county desperately needs.”

Ferndale resident Iver Skavdal, a Humboldt County Planning Commissioner and retired civil engineer, also spoke in favor of moving Centerville Road, though he emphasized that his opinion was his own and not that of the planning commission. He felt the Coastal Commission’s conditions for the short-term repair project were “overly excessive” and asked the board to look at the big picture.

“[The repair] project only has a 10 to 20 year lifespan [and] it’s going to cost nearly $4 million, or roughly $200,000 to $400,000 a year, and that doesn’t include the removal cost,” he said. “So let’s move inland [to ensure] reliable access.”

During the board’s deliberation, Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo said she could understand property owners’ concerns about rerouting Centerville Road, but emphasized that “this is the first step in the process” to ensuring access continues for the foreseeable future.

“I’m in favor of staff’s recommendation here today,” she said. “I think it’s clear that the more nuanced conversations are yet to come.”

After some additional discussion, Bohn made a motion to approve staff’s recommendation to move forward with realigning Centerville Road. The action was seconded by Arroyo and approved in a 5-0 vote.

Meet the New Tourism Advisory Board

Earlier in the meeting, the board appointed 16 people to the county’s newly formed Humboldt County Tourism Advisory Board, a 20-person body tasked with implementing and advancing the Countywide Travel and Tourism Marketing Strategy. 

The board is composed of two tribal representatives (one position remains open), six regional representatives, nine industry representatives and three “ex officio” non-voting members who will “maintain coordination with key organizations involved in Humboldt County’s tourism economy.” Staff with the county’s economic development division and the future destination stewardship organization will hold two ex officio seats. The remaining position will be held by a representative of the Humboldt Lodging Alliance (HLA), which is currently executive director Meredith Matthews.

The regional appointees will represent six county-designated areas, which were determined by tourism assets (Redwood National and State Parks up near Orick, “heritage and agritourism” in the Eel River Valley, the Lost Coast in Southern Humboldt, etc.) rather than political boundaries. Regional representatives were carefully selected based on their knowledge of local “tourism assets, economic conditions and priorities of the broader region they represent, rather than a single community or organization,” as stated in the staff report.

Each person listed in the table above was selected by county staff. During the board’s deliberation on the appointments, Bushnell spoke in favor of Polly Endert, one of the co-owners of the Benbow Inn, being appointed to lodging representative, but she didn’t push the matter.

The board also weighed the pros and cons of having alternates on the Tourism Advisory Board, with Bohn noting that getting 20 people to attend a meeting can be like “herding cats.” County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes expressed concern that adding more people into the mix would have the opposite effect and make the process more cumbersome.

Ultimately, the board voted 5-0 to approve the list of appointments as recommended by staff.

The following item regarding funding for various tourism and arts organizations, which we wrote about on Monday, was pulled from the agenda by Bushnell, who had requested the item before she knew that the Tourism Advisory Board appointments would be placed on the same agenda. She said most of her questions about upcoming funding opportunities were answered during the previous discussion.