Humboldt County planning commissioners signaled a drafting shift Wednesday for the Humboldt Bay Area Plan: keep offshore wind in the document’s background material, but remove wind-specific language from the policy text governing a future heavy-lift marine terminal.
According to the Aug. 6 Planning Commission workshop, commissioners and staff converged on a compromise that would preserve offshore wind references in the plan’s preamble or context section while broadening the operative policy language so the terminal concept is not limited to offshore wind alone.
The workshop summary said staff also planned to strengthen the background discussion by linking offshore wind to greenhouse gas reduction, climate change, the Regional Climate Action Plan and, likely, the terminal’s future role. Staff said they would also consider whether the document should refer to heavy-lift terminals in the plural.
The commission did not adopt final redline language at the meeting, and the record reviewed so far does not show a final vote on the policy revision. Staff said Coastal Commission comments would be addressed in a later draft.
The planning session also moved through other Humboldt Bay Area Plan topics, including ESHA mitigation, coastal-dependent use priorities, water quality, public services, archaeology, scenic resources, tsunami hazards and sea level rise, according to the workshop summary. Commissioners also asked for broader language on aquaculture, stormwater, fire-risk transmission siting, cultural monitoring and historical preservation.
The commission approved a July 16 action summary on consent by voice vote.
