Tag Archives: crescent city news

Articles, Community News, Infrastructure, Local Government

Beachfront Park’s Wheelchair Swing May Be An ADA Violation, Disability Rights Advocate Warns

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Thumbnail photo: A local disability rights advocate Crescent City is violating the Americans With Disabilities Act by locking its wheelchair swing and requiring users to get a key. | Photo courtesy of Crescent City

Steven Jackson isn’t looking to sue Crescent City, but, he says, a lawsuit could happen if a lock and chain aren’t removed from a swing designed for wheelchairs at Beachfront Park.

Jackson, who has worked with adults with developmental disabilities in Del Norte County for about 20 years, warned the City Council on Monday that requiring people to get a key to be able to use the swing violates the Americans With Disabilities Act.

“I’m not here to propose a lawsuit on you guys,” he said. “But I’m letting you know that the city is really looking at a lawsuit for anybody who tries to go down and access that equipment when it’s not available. What’s that showing to people who come into our community that think we are an inclusive community?”

Continue reading Beachfront Park’s Wheelchair Swing May Be An ADA Violation, Disability Rights Advocate Warns →
Articles, Local Government

Greenough Asks If Limiting Cannabis Retailers Is Necessary, Votes Yes On Updated Regulations

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Thumbnail photo by Jennifer Martin via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License.

Despite opposing Crescent City’s commercial cannabis ordinance five years ago, Councilor Jason Greenough argued that limiting the number of businesses selling it was unnecessary.

“It seems like the market is regulating itself,” he said Monday. “We’re not being inundated with cannabis shops on every corner, so I’m confused why this is even before the Council again.”

Greenough, who was absent when his colleagues first considered a Planning Commission recommendation on Nov. 17 to make changes to the city’s cannabis regulations, urged the City Council to remove the proposed limitation. 

Continue reading Greenough Asks If Limiting Cannabis Retailers Is Necessary, Votes Yes On Updated Regulations →
Articles, Community News, Local Government

Mary Dorman Wins Crescent City’s ‘Service Above Self’ Award; Measure S Paving Project is Under Way; Councilors Approve ADU Update

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Thumbnail photo: Mary Dorman, community volunteer liaison with the American Red Cross’s Northern California chapter, received Crescent City’s Service Above Self award on Monday. | Screenshot

Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting.

Service Above Self:

City Manager Eric Wier applauded Mary Dorman’s readiness to assist Del Norters with everyday disasters, saying she best exemplifies former fire chief Steve Wakefield’s personal motto of service above self.

Dorman, community volunteer leader with the American Red Cross’s Northern California chapter, often acts as a liaison between that organization and the Del Norte Emergency Operations Center, Wier said. 

Continue reading Mary Dorman Wins Crescent City’s ‘Service Above Self’ Award; Measure S Paving Project is Under Way; Councilors Approve ADU Update →
Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Crescent City Seeks Caltrans Grant To Tame U.S. 101 ‘Concrete Jungle’

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Thumbnail: Crescent City is pursuing a Caltrans grant that would make its highway corridor safer for all modes of transportation and tie its downtown area to the Crescent City Harbor. | Screenshot

As Crescent City focuses on revitalizing its downtown, City Manager Eric Wier asked councilors to give a thought to the highway corridor.

Describing M and L streets as a hardscape dominated by pavement, sidewalks and buildings, Wier urged councilors to pursue a Caltrans grant aimed at addressing all modes of transportation. He envisioned more greenery, possibly reducing the number of lanes on the northbound side and building wider sidewalks in order to reduce the amount of highway someone has to cross to get to Safeway.

“A big part of the experience when you come into Crescent City is that highway corridor,” Wier said. “It is the downtown, but it’s not really part of the downtown. You have Caltrans and highway facilities coming through there so it really does need its own plan.”

Continue reading Crescent City Seeks Caltrans Grant To Tame U.S. 101 ‘Concrete Jungle’ →
Articles, Local Government

Here’s Your Sign? Crescent City Council Mulls Changes To Regulations

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Thumbnail photo: The Tsunami Lane Bowling Alley received a permit for its digital sign about a year ago, however the sign has characteristics that aren’t allowed in the Crescent City Municipal Code, City Attorney Martha Rice said. | Photo by Heather Polen

Candace Tinkler was at odds with her colleagues as well as the Planning Commission over a proposal regarding signs on Crescent City’s main drag

A Planning Commission proposal to allow digital signs that are up to 100-square-feet within city limits would lead to distracted motorists, light pollution and visual blight, the mayor pro tem said Monday. Furthermore, she warned, the City Council would be torpedoing its vision for Downtown Crescent City.

“We’re trying hard to move forward, to modernize and improve, not only the safety, but the looks of our community,” Tinkler said, listing the community’s expansion of Beachfront Park, its Front Street improvements and the downtown visioning plan Crescent City staff sought community input on last week. “One of the things that concerns me is that as a town whose economy depends a lot on tourism, these kinds of signs, when they accumulate, it’s a lot of commercialism and it detracts from the idea that we are a distinct community.”

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Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City To Set Cap On Cannabis Retailers, Disallow Indoor Cultivation

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Thumbnail photo by Jennifer Martin via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License.

Crescent City councilors endorsed a Planning Commission request to modify the city’s commercial cannabis law to disallow indoor cultivation within city limits.

But, while planning commissioners also recommended limiting the number of retailers to eight, councilors opted for a stricter cap.

“As long as these business owners are obeying the rules and acting professionally, limiting it to five would be very reasonable,” Mayor Pro Tem Candace Tinkler told her colleagues Monday.

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Articles, Health, Local Government

Del Norte Supervisors Support City Grants, Discuss DHHS Contracts, Retirement Benefit Policy

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short and his District 3 colleague Chris Howard were absent. Among the items discussed at Wednesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

Grant confusion: Three supervisors endorsed two Crescent City grant proposals, though it took a last-minute visit from City Manager Eric Wier for them to arrive at that conclusion.

Supervisors agreed to sign a letter of support for Crescent City’s efforts to obtain a Sustainable Planning Grant through Caltrans for its Redwood Highway Multi-Modal Transportation & Land Use Plan. They also approved a support letter for the city’s pursuit of California Ocean Protection Council grant dollars for its Coastal Resiliency Plan.

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Articles, Environment, Local Government, Science

Restoring Elk Creek Would Enhance Crescent City’s Ability to Withstand Flood, Tsunami, Smith River Alliance’s Grant Werschkull Says

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Thumbnail: Aerial shot of the Elk Creek watershed looking west toward the Pacific Ocean. | Photo courtesy of Smith River Alliance and Stillwater Sciences

Smith River Alliance Co-Director Grant Werschkull acknowledged that breathing new life into Elk Creek’s wetlands could be an economic boon for Crescent City.

But to illustrate his point that restoring the tidal channels and swales would make a difference during a tsunami or a flood, he pointed councilors to a 2015 New Yorker article about the Cascadia Subduction Zone, the massive earthquakes it is capable of generating and its threat to coastal communities like Crescent City.

“The title is the ‘Really Big One’,” Werschkull said, referring to the article. “Seismologists, the experts that we have, participated in that (article) and it talks about how we are right now at a date when it is timely that it could happen.”

Continue reading Restoring Elk Creek Would Enhance Crescent City’s Ability to Withstand Flood, Tsunami, Smith River Alliance’s Grant Werschkull Says →
Articles, Emergencies, Local Government

Greenough Urges Councilors To Reach Out to U.S. Senators To End Government Shutdown

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Thumbnail: Marina MacNeil and Dominique Richcreek, staff members at Pacific Pantry, distributes food in Smith River in this September 2024 photo. Pacific Pantry has expanded its hours in the wake of uncertain SNAP benefits as a result of the federal government shutdown. | File photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Crescent City Councilor Jason Greenough argued that writing to the U.S. senators who represent California, urging them to help end the federal government shutdown wasn’t political.

In response to concerns from his colleague Candace Tinkler, Greenough pointed to the disruption in food stamps, potential impacts to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds the Crescent City Housing Authority, as well as federal employees who are going without pay.

“Our senators have both decided to continue to vote to keep the government shutdown,” Greenough told his colleagues on Monday. “So we at least need to have a discussion about communicating with them to hopefully get this fixed if it is still shut down by our next meeting.”’

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Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City Makes Provisions for Nine Families Impacted By Early End to COVID-Era Housing Program

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Thumbnail photo: Members of the former Crescent City Council, the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors and the Crescent City Planning Commission break ground on Battery Point Apartments in this Sept. 10 file photo. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

The earlier-than-anticipated end of a COVID-era program will push some families ahead of the line when it comes to obtaining Section 8 housing vouchers.

Nine families are currently being housed through the Emergency Housing Voucher  (EHV) program, which was created in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, Crescent City Housing Authority Director Megan Miller said Monday.

With the program’s funding expected to run out four years earlier than anticipated, however, the City Council, acting as the Housing Authority Board of Directors, approved transitioning those nine families into the Housing Choice Voucher program.

Continue reading Crescent City Makes Provisions for Nine Families Impacted By Early End to COVID-Era Housing Program →