Humboldt supervisors approve denser housing in inland, rural areas

A split Humboldt County Board of Supervisors vote on July 14 opened inland and rural parts of the county to denser housing, a change that could make larger multi-unit projects easier in places like McKinleyville and Garberville. The first people likely to feel it are renters and first-time buyers searching for fewer, more expensive options in a county where supply remains tight.

The decision comes as Humboldt works under the state housing timetable. State law requires cities and counties to update their housing elements every five to eight years; Humboldt County finished its most recent update in August 2020 and must complete the next one by August 2027. The Humboldt County Association of Governments says local jurisdictions are already working on the 7th Regional Housing Needs Allocation cycle, which will run from 2028 through 2037. In Eureka, the next cycle is expected to bring nearly 6,000 housing units into the county’s share of regional demand.

McKinleyville sits at the center of that pressure. The McKinleyville Community Services District describes it as the fastest-growing unincorporated community in Northern California’s Humboldt County, with about 17,000 residents. That growth has made density debates sharper there than in many other inland communities, where local roads, water systems and sewer capacity can be thinner and neighborhood patterns have long favored lower-density development.

The county has already seen how contentious those tradeoffs can be. On Jan. 26, 2024, supervisors denied an appeal and approved a 56-unit McKinleyville subdivision. In May, supervisors split 3-2 over a road-widening requirement tied to Humboldt Commons, a McKinleyville senior housing project described by Life Plan Humboldt as the first nonprofit 62-plus community of its kind on the North Coast.

Taken together, those votes show a board willing to back more homes while still wrestling with where and how fast growth should happen. Denser housing can help the county add units on existing parcels instead of pushing everything into new development at the edge of town, but it also raises immediate questions about infrastructure and neighborhood change. For inland Humboldt, the new rules could determine whether housing proposals move forward in familiar places or stall under the weight of local opposition.