Rural Lands to be Debated

Time to Get Involved

Humboldt County Planning Commission

As the planning commission begins deliberation on the land Use Element of the GPU we must make sure that they understand the importance of including our perspective in the final document.

The first rural section to be discussed beginning this Thursday (September 17) is Rural Lands – Section 4.4.

There are several areas that deserve your attention. Among them:

Currently, Alternative “A” calls for a decrease in the inventory of lands planned Rural Residential. In plain English, that means fewer opportunities for Humboldt families to enjoy the rural lifestyle.

It also calls for discretionary review of development in ALL areas designated for rural residential development. We believe this should remain a principally permitted process. After all, it is already very difficult to obtain a regular permit with the current planning system in Humboldt County. Discretionary permitting would put landowners at risk of arbitrary decision-making at county staff level.

On another front, we believe the County should follow the State’s example by revising and updating Gray water standards and guidelines in order to address water use issues throughout the county. This is an area where rural landowners have already done a lot of groundwork that the County could tap into (pun intended).

We are also concerned that some provisions contained in Alternatives A, B and C will result in hardship for those landowners having to rebuild after fire or other catastrophic loss possibly even to the extent that some may not be able to rebuild at all. We recommend that re-building be excluded from classification as “new development”.

If you value the quality of Humboldt County’s rural lifestyle please consider attending one or more of the UPCOMING MEETINGS on the land Use Element of the GPU