Humboldt County adopts McKinleyville town‑center zoning after heated debate over Central Avenue lane reduction

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Monday certified a final environmental impact report and adopted a zoning ordinance to create a McKinleyville Town Center — a mixed‑use, form‑based zone with a Q (qualified) overlay — after a daylong hearing that centered on a proposed lane reduction on Central Avenue and the treatment of wetlands.

John Ford, planning director, told the board the project grew from a years‑long community process led by the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee and that the EIR examined a conservative “theoretical maximum” build‑out. The analysis flagged one significant unavoidable impact: an increase in traffic noise along Railroad Drive of roughly 5–7 decibels. Ford said vehicle‑miles‑traveled analysis found most traffic impacts to be less than significant because the town‑center plan emphasizes walking, bicycling and transit.

“The recommendation to the Board of Supervisors is to adopt the resolution to certify the EIR and adopt the findings,” Ford said in his presentation, and recommended adopting the mitigation monitoring and reporting program and rezoning the town‑center area to mixed use with the Q overlay.

Why it mattered: the ordinance sets development rules intended to produce a more pedestrian‑oriented downtown — ground‑floor commercial uses, residential above, pedestrian and bicycle…