To: Board of Supervisors
From: Planning and Building Department
Agenda Section: Departmental
Vote Requirement: Majority
SUBJECT:
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Consider Including a Housing Element Implementation Measure Requiring Adoption of a Traffic Impact Fee as Required by the Mitigation Measure in the Martin Slough Interceptor Sewer Line Extension
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RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Direct staff to include a Housing Element Implementation Measure requiring staff to work with the City of Eureka to adopt a traffic impact fee.
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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:
The Board of Supervisors is being asked to reconsider pursuing a traffic impact fee for the Martin Slough Interceptor sewer service area. The traffic fee is a mitigation measure from the environmental impact report (EIR) prepared for implementation of the new sewer expansion. In 2019 the Board directed Public Works to pursue alternatives to implementing the traffic fee. No feasible alternatives have been identified. The lack of this impact fee has significant implications on the development of the forthcoming Housing Element. In the last General Plan update, the county was threatened with litigation if it did not either impose the required mitigation measure imposed by the EIR or remove all housing units from the Martin Slough Interceptor service area. The Martin Slough service area in the county is approximately 2,300 acres and includes nearly all land in the county jurisdiction surrounding the City of Eureka.
There were approximately 145 parcels to be included in the 2019 Housing Element Inventory within the Martin Slough service area. Inclusion of these parcels in the current housing element update would warrant similar legal challenge. In 2019 these parcels were estimated to have capacity...
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