Ryan Burns / Monday, Oct. 12 @ 12:18 p.m. / Agendizer

[UPDATED With Voting Results] Eureka Planning Commission to Consider New County Psychiatric Facility Downtown; Plus, a New Gathering Venue?

UPDATE, 10/13/26:

“Now we come to my favorite thing ever: a General Plan conformance review,” Eureka Planning Commissioner Michael Kraft remarked sarcastically at last night’s meeting. “Let us get on with this dance. This Kabuki dance. This exercise. This thing we do.”

Kraft’s derision was evidently a nod to the fact that, as noted in the preview below, the Planning Commission doesn’t really have authority to approve or deny projects in the conformance review process. Nevertheless, the commission was given the courtesy of hearing about the county’s proposed new in-patient psychiatric health facility downtown. (See details below.)

After receiving the staff report, Commissioner Deborah Dukes encouraged the county to change the look of the building’s ground floor, which she described as brutalist and concrete-looking. Fellow Commissioner Steve Lazar brought up the elimination of parking spaces. Architect Jake Johnson, representing the county, said that’s a “major concern” among employees at the courthouse as well. He added that the county is working on alternatives.

Ultimately, the commission unanimously found the project to be substantially consistent with the city’s General Plan.

Earlier in the hearing, the Planning Commission unanimously approved a Conditional Use Permit for the Aurora Hall community gathering place and events venue following a procession of public commenters speaking in favor of the project.

The commission also went against staff’s recommendation on a vacation rental application, opting to grant the applicant’s appeal. As a result, Adam Bones will be allowed to continue his pursuit of a four-unit vacation rental at 1322 H Street.

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Original post:

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What you’re looking at in the image above, there, is the proposed new home of Sepervirens, Humboldt County’s in-patient psychiatric health facility, which has been housed since 1969 inside the ramshackle, 120-year-old hospital building at 720 Wood Street.

The two-story, 21,728-square-foot replacement facility pictured above would include a 16-bed inpatient psychiatric unit (same as the current facility), plus a four-bed crisis stabilization unit, with both units serving adolescents and adults. The county expects to finish construction by roughly this time next year, according to a staff report from the City of Eureka.

Tonight at City Hall, the Eureka Planning Commission will take a closer look at the plans and then vote on whether or not the project substantially conforms with the city’s General Plan.

First, let’s get oriented. If all goes as planned, then the view in the conceptual image above is what you’ll see this time next year if you stand on Fifth Street with your back to the county jail/courthouse and turn your head to roughly 10 2 o’clock. Below is a view of what’s there today: a parking lot for county employees.

There are about 75 parking spaces in that lot; the new facility would include approximately 25 spaces, along with secure outdoor therapeutic areas.

Here’s an overhead view of the plans:

City planning staff recommend finding that the project does substantially conform with Eureka’s 2040 General Plan. They cite its potential to preserve local psychiatric services and strengthen the downtown’s role as a center for civic and health services. However, the staff report notes several areas of only partial consistency, including the building’s relatively low development intensity, limited ground-floor transparency and lack of specified bicycle parking, transit incentives and on-site renewable-energy systems.

(Not mentioned in the report is that the facility will be just three blocks from the Eureka Regional Transit and Housing Center (EaRTH Center).

The Planning Commission’s review is advisory and non-binding, meaning the county can proceed with the project regardless of the commission’s determination. (Such consistency hearings are more about manners than permission.) The county has not yet completed its environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act.

Also on the agenda: A Eureka property owner is hoping to convert the former church building at 1427 California Street into a community gathering and event space, which she would call Aurora Hall.

According to the staff report, this parcel needs some work to be brought up to code. Specifically, it needs outdoor lighting, waste storage screening, some vegetation trimming in the alley, short-term bicycle parking and screening from neighboring residences.

The applicant, Maria Maiorsky, says events onsite will include “cultural, educational, artistic, and wellness programming, community meetings, nonprofit events, and occasional private celebrations such as weddings, birthday parties, receptions, and business meetings,” according to the staff report. 

The church building was formerly home to a local chapter of the Knights of Pythias, as you can see in this Google Street View image from 2012:

The building is not on the historic register, though the applicant has researched the history of the site herself and informed city staff that “it has also been used as a masonic lodge, a meeting space for Alcoholics Anonymous, a chess club, and a cinema,” according the staff report, which notes that none of these uses can be confirmed by City records.

When the Applicant purchased the subject site in 2021, it was owned and used by Christ the Redeemer Reformed Presbyterian Church, who sold the it due to COVID-19 lockdowns and moved their operations elsewhere in Eureka.

If you’d care to weigh in on this matter, the Sempervirens project or anything else on the agenda (or off of it, for that matter), you can attend tonight’s meeting in City Council chambers at City Hall. Meeting’s scheduled to start at 5:30. 

If you can’t make it, here are the details you’ll need to participate via Zoom: Meeting ID: 707 441 4243 | Passcode: 95501 | join by phone: 707-441- 4243 | Dial *6 to mute/unmute and *9 to raise/lower hand | Meeting link.

Scroll down for more information, including links to staff reports and supplemental documents as well as summaries from Gennie, LoCO’s Agendabot. 

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Eureka Planning Commission

Oct. 12, 2026, 5:30 p.m.

A. ROLL CALL

B. SALUTE TO THE FLAG

C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

1. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes

D. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS

E. PUBLIC HEARINGS - CONTINUED

F. PUBLIC HEARINGS - NEW

1. Bones Vacation Rental Application Determination Appeal Location: 1322 H Street; APN: 005-036-005 Project: Appeal AP-26-2 (appeal for Vacation Rental Permit Application VR-25-4)

2. Aurora Hall Neighborhood Serving Commercial Gathering and Event Space Location: 1427 California Street; APN: 004-123-013 Project: Conditional Use Permit Up-26-6

G. OLD BUSINESS

H. NEW BUSINESS

1. General Plan Conformance Review for a New Psychiatric Health Facility and Crisis

I. STAFF REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS

J. OTHER REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS

K. ADJOURNMENT

L. NOTICES

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