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Coastal Permit Administrator approves septic system repair for longtime Mendocino vacation property with archaeological and habitat conditions
Summary
Mendocino County approved CDP 2024-0013 to repair and relocate a failing septic leach field for a single-family residence on a bluff‑top parcel near Mendocino, with archaeological training, tribal monitoring provisions and California Department of Fish and Wildlife conditions incorporated into the permit.
The Mendocino County Coastal Permit Administrator approved March 27 a coastal development permit (CDP 2024-0013) to repair and relocate an existing septic leach field serving a single‑family residence at a bluff-top parcel in the Mendocino coastal zone.
Project planner Shelby Miller said the site contains a freshwater seep identified as an environmentally sensitive habitat area (ESHA). The proposal would abandon the existing leach field and connect the septic tank to a replacement leach field located more than 100 feet from the seep; about 15 linear feet of effluent piping would be within a 50‑foot buffer the project relies upon. Wind Coastal Planning and Biology prepared a reduced buffer analysis and biological protections; CDFW and the Coastal Commission reviewed the reports and recommended conditions that were incorporated into the permit.
Miller said the project included an archaeological survey and the archaeological commission accepted the survey's findings; staff added a discovery clause and a cultural‑resources awareness training condition for construction crews. The hearing record includes a memo dated March 27, 2025, amending and correcting condition number 23 to clarify training and monitoring language; the Coastal Permit Administrator's approval incorporated that memo.
Agent Megan Durbin of Wind Coastal Planning and Biology said the project materials were in order and that the owner, Art Shattuck, supported the repair. Shattuck spoke briefly, noting the property was built by his family in 1972 and that the leach field had reached the end of its useful life.
County staff noted the project would remove nonnative plants, seed bare areas with native species, and include habitat enhancement measures as part of conditions of approval. The permit includes the archaeological discovery clause, cultural‑resources awareness training for contractors before construction, and coordination requirements should artifacts be discovered during work.
The Coastal Permit Administrator approved the project as conditioned. Staff will require implementation of the biological mitigation and enhancement measures, ensure the amended condition 23 is applied as written in the March 27 memo, and confirm archaeological and tribal protocols are followed during construction.
