To: Board of Supervisors
From: Planning and Building Department
Agenda Section: Departmental
Vote Requirement: Majority
SUBJECT:
title
Assessment of a Potential Reduction in the Minimum Acreage Required for Subdivisions in the Jacoby Creek Community Planning Area.
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Receive the report prepared by staff, and direct staff to undertake further action as appropriate.
Body
STRATEGIC PLAN:
This action supports the following areas of your Board's Strategic Plan.
Area of Focus: Housing for All
Strategic Plan Category: 4002 - Increase and prioritize housing development
DISCUSSION:
Executive Summary
This report is to allow the Board of Supervisors to decide whether to initiate a process of changing the General Plan, Jacoby Creek Community Plan and area zoning to allow additional parcels in the Jacoby Creek area. This request came in response to an appeal of a Parcel Map Subdivision which would require all these actions, but in so doing the Board asked to expand the analysis to determine how many more units could be obtained. The work to date has raised awareness that the area is highly variable in the depth of groundwater which could result in a potential for pollution of groundwater if too many units were allowed. To proceed additional research and potentially studies are needed to understand the conditions and how many units could be located in the area while protecting groundwater resources.
This assessment was initiated by an appeal of the Humboldt County Planning Commission's Aug. 7, 2025 denial of a Parcel Map Subdivision (PMS) application to divide an approximately 4.55-acre parcel into two parcels of approximately 1.4 acres (Parcel 1) and 3.2 acres (Parcel 2). Policies in the Jacoby Creek Community Plan require a minimum of 5 acres for parcels served by wells and onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) and the minimum parcel size under the General Plan designation an...
Click here for full text