Eureka seeks public input on housing plan shaping growth through 2035
Eureka is asking residents to help draw the map for 1,740 new homes, before the July 2027 deadline locks in where apartments and infill can go.
Eureka is inviting residents to a July 14 workshop at the Wharfinger Building as it starts shaping the Housing Element that will guide where the city can grow through 2035. City staff are also pushing online input through surveys, idea boards and an interactive map, with food, refreshments, prizes and kid-friendly activities meant to bring in more than the usual planning regulars.
Humboldt County’s 7th-cycle regional housing need was set at 5,962 units when the Humboldt County Association of Governments adopted the county plan on May 21, 2026, and Eureka’s share is 1,740 homes. Local governments in Humboldt County must update their housing elements for the planning period beginning July 15, 2027, and ending July 15, 2035.
Development Services Director Cristin Kenyon and Senior Planner Kelsey Fletterick are presenting the workshop as an early step in that process. The Housing Element will address affordability, homelessness, fair housing, preservation of existing homes and opportunities for residents across income levels. It will also help decide whether future apartments, smaller homes and higher-density projects are steered toward infill areas, downtown or other sites, with direct consequences for traffic, school enrollment, neighborhood character and access to jobs and services.
Eureka’s current certified Housing Element covers 2019-2027, with certification by HCD on March 16, 2020 and a later amendment certified on November 10, 2022. Eureka received a Prohousing Designation on December 1, 2023 after changes that included allowing emergency shelters as a principally permitted use in the Public Facilities zoning district and removing design review approval for residential projects with four or fewer units.
Eureka’s housing-site strategy has already leaned on city-owned downtown parking lots for lower-income housing, and Eureka wants at least 332 deed-restricted affordable homes on city-owned land by 2028. Of those, 309 are now planned, entitled or underway.
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