Mendocino County staff updated the Planning Commission on the Local Coastal Program (LCP) update, describing a grant‑funded multi‑consultant effort that will produce technical studies, draft policies and updated maps ahead of an LCP amendment to the California Coastal Commission.

Planning and Building Services director (recorded in the transcript both as "Julia Crogg" and later as "Julia Krog") said the county received a Round 8 Coastal Commission grant of almost $2,200,000 in 2022 with a county match of $200,000. Staff has procured consultants for tasks including a coastal groundwater study (Larry Walker & Associates), a State Route 1 traffic/capacity study (TJKM Transportation), visual and archaeological resources (EMC Planning), biological resources (WRA) and CEQA support (EMC Planning). The director said staff will publish completed tasks for public comment later this month and will issue press releases and notices to an "interested parties" email list (lcpupdate@mendocinocounty.gov).

Staff said the coastal groundwater study completed tasks 1–5 but found groundwater conditions are more site‑specific than anticipated; as a result the county is revising the scope from tasks 6–9 to 6–8 and expects to bring scope revisions to the Board of Supervisors in December. The Larry Walker contract termination date was extended to June 30, 2026. The director also described that an administrative draft of the traffic study is under internal review and that visual and archaeological work included tribal consultation, a Nov. 5 community workshop (video posted), and a public survey that closed Nov. 14; staff is awaiting consultant summaries and will make results available on the LCP web pages.

Staff described a separate rolling grant for a Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment (Environmental Science Associates was awarded the contract); staff extended that grant termination date to 12/31/2026 and expects final deliverables around June 2026. Commissioners discussed how RHNA allocations—cited in the presentation as about 6,456 units countywide—might intersect with mapping and capacity work, and staff said timing and Coastal Commission consultation requirements mean rezoning questions tied to the housing element may be addressed later using the LCP studies as inputs.

Staff invited the public to join the interested‑parties list (staff said 36 people were currently on the list) and announced more engagement and policy‑drafting efforts likely to begin in early 2026. The presentation included multiple references to ongoing consultations, scheduled public comment periods and coordination with Fort Bragg and other jurisdictions.