Thumbnail photo: Public Works Director Dave Yeager showed Crescent City councilors the proposed concept for a revitalized 3rd Street last week. | Image courtesy of the City of Crescent City
The day before Don Arambula presented the revitalization of 3rd and K streets as catalyst projects for the Downtown Specific Plan, Crescent City’s public works director unveiled a plan to pursue grant dollars to help pay for those improvements.
Up to $5 million in Community Development Block Grant dollars expect to be available this fall, Yeager told the City Council on July 6. To be competitive, the city needs to prepare design work associated with those catalyst projects as well as its storm drain masterplan by the time the Notice of Funding Availability drops, he said.
“We did the survey work up front,” Yeager said. “What we’re asking from you this evening is to approve this task order, which is $100,000, so we can finish the design.”
Councilors agreed to Yeager’s proposal, committing $100,000 in Road Repair and Accountability Act, also known as Senate Bill 1, revenue toward the design work the public works director described. Their decision amended a task order that had allocated $50,000 in SB 1 funds for a topographical survey of 3rd Street’s current conditions.
According to Yeager, the design work associated with undergrounding the city’s utilities on Front Street will also be included in the project.
Councilors in May 2025 established an underground utility district, which will use about $2.8 million in Rule 20 work credits from the California Public Utilities Commission to Pacific Power to rid the downtown area of the overhead electricity and telecommunications lines. Yeager said that credit could be part of any contribution a CDBG grant requires from the city.
“It should make us competitive,” he told the City Council. “We’ve had luck with CDBG grants in the past, with this funding limit, so there is larger funding available for doing this kind of work.”
There is also potential construction funding available through Measure S, though that has yet to be allocated, according to Yeager’s staff report.
Councilman Steve Shamblin was absent on July 6.
According to City Manager Eric Wier, since SB 1 dollars are required to go toward road maintenance, the city has been saving it so that it can pay for design efforts associated with 3rd Street.
This is a similar approach the city took to reconstructing Front Street — using CDBG dollars to pay for storm drain improvements and other funding to pay for reconstructing the street itself, Wier said.
According to Yeager, SB 1 dollars also paid for some improvements to A Street.
The work involves creating a more intimate feel for Downtown Crescent City, Yeager said. This includes establishing “landscape islands,” narrowing roads and creating pop outs at the corners to shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Arambula, principal planner and urban designer for Portland-based Crandall Arambula PC, referred to K Street as a demonstration project to test the elements that would be included on 3rd Street.
The additional landscaping, lighting, new sidewalks and new pavement would be installed concurrently with the new transit center the Redwood Coast Transit Authority will be building in the parking lot at K and Front streets, Arambula said.
“We won’t get new pavement on 3rd Street, but this gives us a chance to test and see how well this is working on (K) and if we need to make some tweaks for 3rd Street we can do that,” he said during Tuesday’s steering committee meeting.
The Downtown Specific Plan steering committee included business owners, officials from public agencies such as Del Norte County and the Crescent City Harbor District as well as representatives from local nonprofits such as True North Organizing Network.
Arambula gave a similar presentation to members of the public at a town hall meeting on Wednesday.
The Downtown Specific Plan also calls for improvements to 3rd Street from G to L. In addition to more landscaping, Arambula said some improvements for 3rd Street could be pavers and tinted concrete to separate the bike lane from vehicular traffic. He also invited steering committee members to think about using public art such as sculptures on 3rd Street.
According to a design concept that Arambula presented to both the steering committee and the public, 3rd Street would be considered the downtown area’s new “retail streetscape.” In addition to two banks and a multi-use residential development, the street would consist primarily of ground-floor retail establishments.
During the discussion on July 6, before the Downtown Specific Plan meetings, councilors asked about the tree wells that Yeager’s staff report mentioned. Councilor Jason Greenough noted that the conceptual design called for moving the tree wells into the parking lane and asked if that’s the plan for the trees that currently exist.
Yeager said that decision is still to be worked out, but pointed out that most of the tree wells are currently empty. The question is whether they can be salvaged, he said.
“The other program that we’ve talked about every single budget year is to begin a tree replacement period,” he said. “Because what happens is the trees that are there are maxed out size-wise and so now a quarter or a third of them are heaving the sidewalk.”
The proposed improvements could be a chance to fix that sidewalk buckling, Yeager said. The alternative is replacing the trees which, he said, could cost about $16,000 to replant the wells and replace the metal grates surrounding them.
Another option is to create a tree replacement program that would switch out the trees that are aggressive with other vegetation, Yeager said. Mayor Isaiah Wright said some nice bushes might be an option.
Wier, however, pointed out that getting the right trees planted is important to create a more business-friendly downtown.
“If there are canopies, those trees then grow up and you can’t really see the businesses,” he said.
Crescent City currently maintains the tree wells in the downtown area. Yeager said his staff will also water any flower baskets or flowers in a tree well.
During public comment, city resident Mark Bower suggested turning 3rd and 4th streets into a one-way loop with a bike lane.
“You’ve narrowed the streets drastically,” he said, looking at the concept design in Yeager’s presentation. “And parking is going to be limited.”
On Wednesday, Bower said a one-way street will allow for more space within the business district. He suggested resuming two-way traffic in the residential areas on the outskirts of Downtown Crescent City.
Arambula said one-way streets were considered, but that would cut the amount of traffic going to the retailers on 3rd and 4th streets in half.
“It’s exacerbating the problem,” he said. “While you may have more parking, you don’t have the drive-by visibility. People will say, listen, what about angle parking? You can get angle parking, but I will guarantee you it’s a recipe for failure because the problem also is, which direction does it go?”
There will be further “robust discussions” in August that will focus specifically on parking in the Downtown Specific Plan. Another community meeting will be held in September to focus on architectural guidelines. The Downtown Specific Plan will go before the Planning Commission in October to be reviewed before it comes before the City Council for adoption in December, Arambula said.
For more information on the Downtown Specific Plan, click here.
