Arcata gets $1 million from feds for housing permit overhaul
The city of Arcata recently received $1 million from a Department of Housing and Urban Development program meant to remove roadblocks to housing development.
The Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing grant will pay for a new ministerial permitting processing for development, funding the creation of a form-based code where certain developments could be permitted more quickly than under the current process. Arcata Community Development Director David Loya estimated that a new ministerial process will be available in the next one-and-a-half to two years.
“The planning process adds time and expense to building permits by requiring iterative review, amendments to the plans, and holding costs. The form-based codes with explicit standards that will qualify for ministerial review (over the counter approval) provides developers a road map to approval and the community assurances about what future development will look like,” Loya said via email.
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By: Jackson Guilfoil
Source: Times Standard
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