Arcata council opens hearing on Rogers Garage affordable-housing funding, declines decision after residents raise contamination and traffic concerns

Arcata City staff opened a public hearing May 21 on a plan to commit Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program income and other local housing funds to the Rogers Garage affordable-housing project but did not act, instead telling the council they would re-notice the item and return on June 4 for further deliberation.

The item before the City Council asked for roughly $1.3 million in CDBG program income and related allocations tied to the site at Old Arcadia Road and Highland (the Rogers Garage site). Staff said about $300,000 of local program income would address general administration and activity delivery and roughly $800,000 would be proposed for the project; the remaining program income would be returned to an economic-development loan pool. Because technical questions and correspondence had arrived in the days before the meeting, staff recommended taking public comment and postponing any funding or final CEQA decisions until a newly noticed hearing.

The recommendation matter-of-factly framed a dual-track process: funding review before the council and a separate land-use entitlements track handled by the Planning Commission. “The design review process is a discretionary hearing the planning commission will take,” staff said, and cautioned council members against making statements that could prejudice any later appeal of the Planning Commission decision.

Residents, parents and school employees urged the council to halt any funding decision until environmental questions are resolved. “Are you…