Fortuna planning panel approves ambulance base at 703 Main Street amid neighborhood objections

The Fortuna Planning Commission voted unanimously on March 24 to adopt Resolution P-2026-3145, approving a conditional use permit that allows City Ambulance to operate a staffed ambulance base at 703 Main Street and finding the project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.

Senior Planner Katie told the commission the project, proposed by applicant City Ambulance and sited on property owned by Abe Faul, would not involve exterior changes and would use an accessory structure and existing off-street parking for on‑ and off‑duty ambulances. Katie said the base would be staffed 24 hours and that City Ambulance averages about seven calls per day, with roughly four daily responses that use lights and sirens. She said the operator’s emergency medical dispatch (EMD) certification, obtained in January, has reduced lights-and-sirens responses by about 20 percent.

The staff report noted that the parcel is zoned commercial thoroughfare, that…