Fortuna planning commission recommends rezoning 703 Main Street to allow future ambulance base; public raises siren, CEQA and notice concerns

The Fortuna Planning Commission on Feb. 10 voted to recommend that the City Council rezone 703 Main Street (APN 040-172-009) from Retail Commercial to Commercial Thoroughfare, a change staff said aligns the parcel with the city’s commercial General Plan designation and does not in itself require environmental review.

Planning staff member Katie Schmidt told the commission the parcel is a 10,000-square-foot lot with a 1,500-square-foot primary structure and a 960-square-foot accessory structure, and said the commission’s action would be a zoning map amendment only; any future use-specific approvals, including a conditional use permit (CUP) for an ambulance base, would be considered later and undergo separate review. Schmidt said the project qualifies for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) “common-sense” exemption under CEQA Guidelines §15061(b)(3) because the rezone alone is not expected to cause environmental effects.

Neighbors and business owners submitted written comments and several spoke at the meeting objecting to rezoning. Ben French, a local realtor and homeowner, said he opposed rezoning because of concerns that lights, sirens and frequent ambulance arrivals would disrupt a quiet neighborhood and harm property values. “I asked the city of Fortuna to deny the rezoning of 703 Main Street parcel,” French wrote and asked the city to find a different location where ambulances could respond with lights and sirens if needed.

Several commenters stressed the proximity of a preschool. John Fredenbach and a representative of the Prime Monastery School said the site sits near drop-off and pick-up activity for toddlers and could create safety and trauma concerns. Matt Allen, who said he owns nearby commercial and residential buildings, argued the site conflicts with the city’s adopted land-use policies and said the notification process failed to alert all affected parcels.

Property owner Abe Bogart, who owns 703 and 705 Main Street and spoke in person, emphasized the limited scope of the decision: “This hearing is limited to consideration of a zoning map amendment… No conditional use permit, no operational approval, and no specific land use entitlement is being requested tonight.” He asked the commission to base the zoning decision on adopted policies and compatibility across the zone rather than opposition to a particular owner.

Nathan McKnight, a paramedic lead for City Ambulance, described operational mitigations the provider would seek in a future CUP, including national-standard buffer zones and emergency-dispatch triage intended to limit unnecessary use of lights and sirens. McKnight said the service averages about seven calls a day, and that roughly four of those historically involve lights and sirens, and argued mitigation measures would not drastically affect response performance.

Several commissioners asked whether required noticing had been completed and whether local volunteer fire had been consulted. Staff said notices were mailed to 48 addresses within a 300-foot radius on Jan. 28, 2026, and the volunteer fire department had indicated support for the relocation. Schmidt told the commission that specific quiet-hour restrictions and non-lights-and-sirens buffer times would be developed as part of any future CUP.

After discussion the commission moved to adopt Resolution P-2026-3144 recommending City Council approval of the rezoning and affirming the CEQA exemption. When polled the commissioners present recorded affirmative votes and the chair declared the motion adopted.

What’s next: The commission’s action is a recommendation to the Fortuna City Council. Any future operational proposal by City Ambulance would require a separate conditional use permit, where operational mitigations, quiet-hour restrictions and traffic safety measures would be reviewed and subject to public comment and possible environmental review.