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Residents press Arcata council on proposed Shirley Blvd cell tower and blocked Highland pedestrian route
Summary
Residents urged Arcata council to act on a county‑proposed 200‑foot cell tower near Shirley Boulevard, citing wildfire, flood, and proximity risks. Neighbors also asked staff to investigate a newly erected fence on Highland Road that blocks a decades‑used pedestrian route and emergency egress.
Multiple residents used the public‑comment period at the Nov. 5 Arcata City Council meeting to request city involvement in two neighborhood concerns.
In the Sunnybrae area, speakers (Melanie Bettenhausen, Margaret Draper, Tim Judkins) described a county conditional‑use permit for a proposed telecom facility on a parcel near 422 Shirley Boulevard. They said the site sits roughly 180–200 feet from Arcata homes, within the city’s planning area and sphere of influence, and that county siting rules differ from Arcata’s local tower separation standards. Speakers raised potential wildfire risk (propane and equipment onsite), increased traffic and noise, watershed and flood concerns along Gratzman Creek, and the burden on Arcata Fire as the responding agency. Speakers asked that staff place the matter on a council agenda to prepare a city comment to Humboldt County.
Separately, three residents described a fence recently erected on Highland Road that blocks a long‑used pedestrian connection and a generational walking loop used by families, students, and seniors. Jude Power and others said the passage may carry prescriptive rights of way from decades of public use; speakers asked the council to investigate the property owner’s right to fence the path and to restore safe pedestrian access and an emergency egress route.
Mayor Stillman and staff responded by advising residents to contact county supervisors (for the cell tower) and county planning staff, and to provide city staff with materials and maps. Staff said they would explore how the city could weigh in with the county given the site’s location within Arcata’s community planning area and sphere of influence; on the Highland fence, council asked staff to investigate prescriptive‑use claims and return with options.
