Isabella Vanderheiden / Friday, May 31 @ 4:10 p.m. / Agendizer

The Eureka City Council Will Consider a Development Agreement with Danco for the EaRTH Center at Next Week’s Meeting

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It’s been a little over two years since the Eureka City Council unanimously approved plans for the EaRTH Center, a multi-story housing and transit development slated for downtown. The project, set for two city-owned parking lots on Third Street between G and H Streets, has faced several setbacks since its approval in February 2022, delaying its expected completion by another couple of years.

However, things are finally moving forward again. The city has found a developer to build the ambitious project: Arcata-based construction company Danco Builders.

At next week’s meeting, the Eureka City Council will consider a Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) with Danco to construct the EaRTH Center. 

“Once that [agreement] is finalized, then [Danco] will have what they need to go after some tax credits in July,” City Manager Miles Slattery told the Outpost. “If everything goes according to plan and they get the tax credits, they can break ground as early as next year, but that would be pending the availability of those tax credits.”

When the plans were drawn up a few years ago, the city was working with Cal Poly Humboldt and California State University Trustees to create additional housing for students. The city council approved a pre-development agreement with Servitas, a student housing management company, in February 2022. However, CSU Trustees and Servitas ended up leaving the project.

“Servitas worked with HTA [the Humboldt Transit Authority], Cal Poly Humboldt and the city on basic renderings, you know, how many units we were looking at, but the financials didn’t pan out very well and [Servitas] left,” Slattery explained. “So, that morphed into direct discussions with Cal Poly and the HTA … and we developed the plans even further, but [the university] wasn’t able to allocate the funding that was needed.”

Slattery said the city tried partnering with College of the Redwoods but “the timing just wasn’t good.” Eventually, the city contacted Danco and drew up a plan.

Some of the details still have to be worked out, Slattery said. Under the current plans, the EaRTH Center would be between three and five stories tall with up to 99 apartment-style housing units above the first floor, “all of which will be deed-restricted affordable,” according to the staff report. The ground floor will serve as an intermodal transit center for the HTA, with a few commercial tenant spaces.

In the last year, special interest group Citizens for a Better Eureka has filed several lawsuits against the City of Eureka to block a number of planned housing development projects on city-owned parking lots in downtown and Old Town Eureka. Asked if any of the lawsuits could derail EaRTH Center, Slattery said none of them specifically target the project.

“There’s one standing court case that hasn’t been kicked out that would affect this, which is the one that challenges our amendment to the Housing Element,” Slattery said. “The EaRTH Center hasn’t been targeted individually – yet.”

A copy of the resolution authorizing the development agreement can be found here.

Ceasefire Resolution

The Eureka City Council will also consider a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The council was presented with a similar ceasefire resolution at the end of last year but the item was pulled from the agenda the day before the meeting. 

In a Dec. 4 press release, Mayor Kim Bergel acknowledged “the concern and grief over the military operations in Gaza.” However, she said the resolution “would not have ended the violence in Gaza and Israel, but it would perpetuate more divisiveness and hatred in our community.”

While discussing future agenda items during the city’s council’s April 16 meeting, Councilmember Leslie Castellano asked her peers to reconsider the ceasefire resolution, noting that the Arcata City Council had approved a similar action one month earlier. Her request was approved by consensus.

The proposed resolution uses more neutral language than the previous version and focuses on supporting peace and “diplomatic solutions to international conflicts.” The proposed resolution notes that “there has been far too much division in our community” spurred by the ongoing war in Gaza, but affirms the city’s support for:

• “​​An immediate mutual and permanent ceasefire and total cessation of violence by all parties involved; 
• A mutual exchange of all hostages and civilian political prisoners;
• Unrestricted delivery of humanitarian assistance, and restoration of food, water, electricity, and medical supplies to wherever they are needed;
• Mutual respect for international law;
• and Reinvigorated diplomacy to develop a permanent, just solution to the conflict and lasting peace in the region.”

The full text of the resolution can be found here.

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The city council will also receive a presentation on the Eureka Police Department’s annual homelessness survey and take a peek at the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. 

Find the full agenda, with our Agendabot’s item summaries, below. The Eureka City Council meets at 6 p.m. at Eureka City Hall — 531 K Street, Eureka. Remote viewing/participating instructions can be found here.

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Eureka City Council

June 4, 2024, 6 p.m.

A. MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Proclamation - Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month

2. 6th Annual NorCalCyber Mayors Cup - Academy of the Redwoods

3. Martin Luther King Day Presentation

B. PRESENTATIONS

C. BOARD/COMMISSION REPORTS

D. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD

E. PUBLIC HEARINGS

1. EaRTH Center CEQA and Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) with Danco

F. CONSENT CALENDAR

1. Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account for Fiscal Year 2024/25

2. Letter in Support of AB 2236

G. LEGISLATIVE ACTION CORRESPONDENCE

H. ORDINANCES/RESOLUTIONS

1. A Resolution Caling for Ceasefire in the Israel Palestine Conflict

I. REPORTS/ACTION ITEMS

1. FY2024-25 Proposed Budget Introduction

J. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

K. CITY MANAGER REPORTS

1. EPD Homeless Survey

L. PUBLIC COMMENT CONTINUED

M. COUNCIL REPORTS / CITY-RELATED TRAVEL REPORTS

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