Board considers urgent letters of support for two Crescent City grants after city manager briefing

Del Norte County supervisors considered two urgency letters of support requested by the City of Crescent City for separate grant applications: a Redwood Highway multimodal transportation and land-use planning grant and a Crescent City Coastal Resiliency Plan grant. The board took a short recess to contact city staff for clarification before returning to hear from Crescent City Manager Eric Weir.

Weir told the board the multimodal grant would focus on the Caltrans Highway 101 corridor through downtown — traffic calming, improved crossings, multimodal connections between the harbor and downtown, and design work to better integrate the downtown, parks and access to housing. He said roughly $700,000 is available and the city intends to apply for near the maximum amount.

Weir described the coastal resiliency grant as a separate effort to assess vulnerabilities and identify adaptation strategies. He said the city plans community engagement and would use consultants (SHN Consulting) and that the two grant efforts are distinct.

After Weir’s presentation Supervisor Dean Wilson moved to approve the letters of support and another supervisor seconded. The clerk was asked to pull the vote, but the provided transcript ends before the final roll-call was recorded.

Public comment on the urgency items included concerns about scope, whether the letters relate to specific projects (such as a 420‑acre Elk Creek restoration), impacts from homelessness and trash in project areas, and requests that the board review local conditions before signing letters. Other commenters urged support, calling the grants an opportunity for needed planning and safety improvements.