Michelle Blackwell

The Fort Bragg Planning Commission recommended the City Council approve two resolutions that could alter the face of housing in low-density residential areas of the City. The resolutions are in response to SB9 which was signed into law by Governor Newsom in 2021. Similar to the law that allows second units called alternative dwelling units, SB 9 encourages property owners to build additional housing by allowing lot splits. The resolutions are controversial because they would allow a homeowner to add three additional houses on a single-family lot. The Fort Bragg City Council will take up the resolutions at a future meeting.

In May, we provided an overview of Local Coastal Plans and the over 3 million in Coastal Commission grants awarded to Point Arena, Fort Bragg and Mendocino County to study the impacts of Sea Level Rise in the coastal zone. Point Arena received their grant funding of 100,000 dollars in August of 2022 to study Arena Cove. Last week at a Grass Roots Institute meeting, Louis White, an engineer hired by the city presented the findings of their vulnerability assessment.White explained the goals of the draft study detailed sea level rise expectations from Ocean Pacific Council and State of California and showed where flooding and other damage is expected to occur.Mendocino County received over 2 million in grants in April of 2023. They are still in the planning process but have issued requests for proposals for visual and archeological impacts, Highway 1 traffic impacts and groundwater impacts. The deadline for the proposals is late October.The City of Fort Bragg which received $900,000 in grants released a communication engagement plan with the Noyo Harbor District which can be accessed at www.NoyoOceanCollective.org.The entire presentation is available on the Grass Roots Institute's website. The Institute is also seeking volunteers to adopt a portion of the coast to monitor and document changes. For more information contact Peter McNamee through their website.

The 34th annual Mendocino Coast Writers Conference was held the first weekend of August in the town of Mendocino. Executive Director Lisa Locascio Nighthawk talks about how the conference has changed, how it kept going during the pandemic and her efforts to diversify the faculty and to create opportunities for the writing community.

The Noyo Center for Marine Science’s Slack Tide Café is closing after just 1 year in operation. It was hoped it would help fund research at the science center, but instead ended up never breaking even. Sheila Semans, Executive Director of The Noyo Center for Marine Science, talks about the café, the fate of its existing after-school and adult education classes, and plans for the Noyo Center’s presence in the harbor as well as research and economic development programs in a repurposed facility.

Judy Leach, President of Adventist Health Mendocino Coast discusses staffing, hiring and the Electronic Medical Record system they developed on the coast. She explains the insurance billing issues that started in late 2022 and how they are being resolved. And talks about the 2nd annual back to school fair that is scheduled for July 15th, which will provide free physicals for local youth that participate in school sports as well as backpacks and school supplies.

Mendocino County Animal Services has announced the closure of the Fort Bragg Animal Shelter as early as July 1st due to diminishing county coffers. The shelter which reopened in 2019 after a previous closure is unlikely to be reopened even if budget woes subside. I spoke to Richard Molinari the director of Animal Care Services for the county and Judy Martin the Executive Director of the Mendocino Coast Humane Society, which runs a separate shelter about how this will impact coastal residents and domestic pets.

Fort Bragg Public Works Director, John Smith updates us on the desal pilot program, three new reservoirs that are going into design, construction on the Pudding Creek Bridge and how and where coastal residents can start recycling after nearly a year without service.

Three million dollars in grants awarded to Mendocino County, Fort Bragg and Point Arena to study and plan for sea level rise.

A healthy Sunflower Sea Star was spotted off the Mendocino Coast for the first time in over 8 years.

Local businesses are working with an organization to install water conservation measures.