County Blocks McKinleyville ADU Near Redwood Regional Airport Runway Zone

Joseph Doty's plan to add a second-story apartment above a new garage at 3481 Central Avenue ran into an immovable obstacle: the parcel sits approximately 850 feet from the end of a Redwood Regional Airport runway, squarely inside Safety Zone 1 of the county's Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan. The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors unanimously denied his appeal on March 12, 2026, closing off the project after months of regulatory back-and-forth.

Doty purchased the property in 2024 and began exploring whether he could replace an existing structure on the footprint with a garage topped by a 24-foot, two-story ADU. He held conversations with both the Department of Aviation and the Planning and Building Department, but according to the Board's resolution from its March 3, 2026 hearing, he never submitted a formal permit application. The Planning and Building Department told him early on that the proposal was inconsistent with the County's adopted Airport Land Use Plan, setting the stage for the appeal he formally filed on October 2, 2025.

The Board's resolution is direct about the aviation concern: "a two-story structure has the potential to penetrate protected air space." That finding, recorded in Resolution No. 26-_ of the Board of Supervisors, denies both the appeal and the underlying Aviation Permit request for APN 511-131-031. The Board conducted a de novo public hearing at its March 3 meeting, reviewing all testimony and evidence before issuing its formal denial.

Safety Zone 1 designations under the Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan represent the most restrictive tier of airspace protection, typically applied to land in the direct approach and departure paths of active runways. At 850 feet from the runway end, the Central Avenue parcel falls well within that corridor.

The outcome illustrates a tension that property owners near Redwood Regional Airport increasingly encounter as ADU construction surges across California: state housing mandates push local governments to facilitate more accessory dwelling units, while federal and state aviation safety frameworks constrain what can be built near active flight paths. For a parcel in Safety Zone 1, those aviation constraints carry the day regardless of housing policy tailwinds.

Doty has not made a public statement on the denial, and the county record does not indicate whether he plans further action.