Humboldt County planners workshop Humboldt Bay Area Plan update as Samoa residents press for noise, lighting and port protections

Humboldt County Planning staff presented a reorganized draft of the Humboldt Bay Area Plan at a July workshop, laying out a multi-chapter update that adds tribal history and environmental-justice policies, expands hazard and adaptation guidance, and clarifies coastal-dependent industrial rules.

"My name is Rhianne Meegan, and I will be presenting on the Humboldt Bay Area plan," said Rhianne Meegan, the staff presenter, who described three attached drafts and said the workshop draft consolidates and modernizes the 1982 plan and incorporates previously omitted 2016 amendments.

Why it matters: the Humboldt Bay Area Plan is the county's local coastal program for roughly 21,000 acres around the bay; changes affect where coastal-dependent industry, shoreline protections and community-serving uses can locate and how future projects are reviewed by CEQA and by the California Coastal Commission.

Public concerns centered on Samoa and a proposed "port overlay" concept. Samoa residents said recent residential development and the nearby industrial peninsula make it imperative the plan require protections for light, noise and public notice when heavy industrial projects are proposed. "This is actually the perfect time to open this document, get community input, and set up protections for us," said resident Dave Ginetta, urging commissioners to use the update to protect the town center and surrounding neighborhoods.

Environmental advocates asked for clear standards in the plan. "We are asking that the language that was put into the coastal outdoor lighting ordinance be integrated into the HVAP," said Sylvia Van Ryan of Humboldt Waterkeeper, calling for shielded lights, downward direction and a warm color temperature to reduce impacts on wildlife.

Aquaculture and local shellfish producers also urged protections for coastal-dependent food production. "Humboldt Bay produced over 50% of all California's market product oysters," said Justin Mogionier, representing Hog Island Oyster Company and others, and asked the county to ensure upland facility rules — wastewater and stormwater controls and permitted uses — support aquaculture.

Residents living adjacent to the proposed heavy-lift terminal site requested strong requirements in any overlay or EIR to establish accurate noise baselines and to analyze impulse noise that can have greater health impacts. "The EIR must establish accurate noise baselines at the town homes property line... measured at multiple times of day and across seasons," said Christopher Wilson, a resident representing families in nearby affordable housing.

Staff and commissioners debated how prescriptive the plan itself should be. Planners said the Humboldt Bay Area Plan will include the concept of a port overlay zone but that the overlay's specific standards (height, lighting, noise limits and mitigation measures) will be developed later as a separate project with its own environmental review and public hearings. "We are not creating a port overlay zone within the Humboldt Bay Area plan. That will be a separate project completely," Meegan told the commission.

Commissioners discussed whether the plan should retain a placeholder for "high-density residential" designation. Some argued for keeping a placeholder with explicit sideboards (for example, excluding tsunami, flood and sea-level-rise hazard areas and requiring proximity to transit), while others said zoning changes themselves are the appropriate legislative venue. The commission did not reach consensus and opted to continue the discussion.

Action and next steps: the commission approved routine consent items by voice vote earlier in the meeting (consent included approval of the 06/18/2026 action summary and a parcel map subdivision). On the Humboldt Bay Area Plan, commissioners requested staff return with clarified policy language and mapping fixes, higher-resolution maps for Coastal Commission review, and suggested draft wording on noise/compatibility and aquaculture protections. The workshop was continued to August 6 and staff said they are aiming for a September 3 public hearing to advance the plan toward Coastal Commission review.

What remains unresolved: commissioners asked staff to draft general-plan-level compatibility language that acknowledges noise and lighting as community concerns while leaving project-specific thresholds to CEQA and to any future port overlay EIR; tribal input on the new historic/environmental-justice chapter is pending staff outreach and has not yet been incorporated.

The planning commission will resume the Humboldt Bay Area Plan workshop on August 6; staff said the goal remains to bring the plan to a public hearing in early September and then forward the subsequent board and Coastal Commission reviews required for certification.