(Listen) Large Eureka Low-Income Housing Complex Likely To Replace Used Car Lot, Other Top Stories

Refresh yourself or catch up on local news with Humboldt Last Week. It begins with quick summaries and often finishes with an interview or longer story. Available where you get podcasts and downloadable for later listening.

Humboldt Last Week, Episode 97

  • Large Low-Income Housing Complex Likely To Replace Used Car Lot (6:20)

Eureka city staff recently approved the design for a large low-income housing complex along 4th and C Streets. Three stories, 50 apartments, all set to house people on the brink of homelessness — half of ‘em veterans. Pending permits this could be up as early as the end of next year.

Danco Communities are the developers. In the podcast their President Chris Dart talks about the facility and how they feel it will impact the community.

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Humboldt Last Week also includes additional crime updates, some attempts at humor, new music picks, Facebook giveaways, event suggestions, and more top stories. You can also listen and connect at humboldtlastweek.com.

Episode partners: Molly Tuttle in Ferndale Oct. 14Bongo Boy StudioCafe Nooner

Rendering from Eureka report

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32 Comments
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Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago

So, “When will Humboldt get wise & start building specific communities like this for the mentally ill. The US seems to want to take care of the aging, but if we had housing communities for our mentally ill too, it would make it easier on our first responders, as well as unclog some of our court system?”

Life is Good
Guest
Life is Good
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

They used to be called insane asylums.

Sparkle Mahn
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Life is Good

Or Grateful Dead shows.

Eurekite
Guest
Eurekite
5 years ago
Reply to  Sparkle Mahn

You know, upon reflection, they really did manage that situation for society pretty well.

TRUMPTASTROPHE for the GOP in November
Guest
TRUMPTASTROPHE for the GOP in November
5 years ago
Reply to  Eurekite

Now they have Trump rallies.🤪

Humboldt Granny
Guest
Humboldt Granny
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

I am amongst the “aging” mentioned above. Physically, I am not in the best of health, but can get around and take care of my housing with only a little help. Just what I want at my age. Mentally ill living in the next unit. No, “Guest”. Putting us together won’t work, particularly when referring to the court systems, which we rarely use, and when we do, it’s in an entirely different way than it is used by and for the mentally ill.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago

I’m a different Guest but, looking at the comment, I don’t think he was saying to merge the two communities. Just have a separate housing complex in the way subsidized housing is made for the aged.

But unfortunately, ADA makes such things as separating groups problematical.

TRUMPTASTROPHE for the GOP in November
Guest
TRUMPTASTROPHE for the GOP in November
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Maybe YOU should use a different screen name then. Just saying…

#TFA 🏌️‍♂️🚫🔥🇷🇺🔥

The Entropic Empath
Guest
The Entropic Empath
5 years ago

Goodness, I predict that this project, if ever completed, will not be occupyed by “verge of homelessness” tenants!

I can only imagine the results of turning the property over to the use of these people.

50 brand new apartments for the poor “verge of homeless”…

How do the folks who currently struggle to live in Eureka by working for a living feel about this?

local observer
Guest
local observer
5 years ago

how do the taxpayers feel about the loss of occupancy tax as these hotels get closed so their buddy can build tax free subsidized housing that they get to profit from? just wait for the next one in McKinleyville. there is a reason why dollar general is setting up shop. its a cat 5 shit storm. and if anyone is wondering Danco did the remodel for the Court House/Jail.

Anti troll league
Guest
Anti troll league
5 years ago
Reply to  local observer

A used car lot does not pay occupancy tax.

Uh huh
Guest
Uh huh
5 years ago

There are many working folks living in tents. One car break down is all it can take. Then you spend your rent on the car so you can get to work and end up on the street with no way to get first, last and deposit for a place. Many college students are homeless.
I think taxes should pay for a loan program to help with first and deposit on a dwelling. Or a well run non-profit could handle it.

The biggest group of folks ending up on the street in CA are 50 plus injured/disabled/sick. Especially in so cal. This is not just a problem here, its in every single place in the pac northwest and san fran.
This is yet another reason why having good healthcare is so important, if your spouse/child was needing an operation to save their lives and it was either operation or a place to live, which would you choose? & if you havent been through social services/medi-cal dont you dare say theres help out there in that situation. There isnt.

Yes we need help for mental illness issues, no doubt. But how many of those we see displaying those signs are really from meth use? Many users are “testers”, meaning they test batches cooks make with different chemicals to see the effect of certain combinations. A lot of those chemicals can make folks “crazy”, talking to invisible people. We need a serious eradication of meth cooks in this county, at least pot growers spent a ton of cash in our communities! Ever since that chp guy had a sister get caught making meth in her bathtub, ive wondered if the cops are all in the biz too. Its definitely good job protection for a cop, keep the supply going so cops seem more needed. Sorry but ive only met one cop in my 50 years who was on the up and up and he retired last year.

Eurekite
Guest
Eurekite
5 years ago
Reply to  Uh huh

Never mind the series of bad decisions that led up to being “on the brink.” All people, no matter what their political affiliation, tend to be sympathetic to people in tight situations . You’ll find that many who oppose the classic leftists solutions have been in that situation themselves and have a strong understanding of the situation. It may be worthwhile to listen to those people who have been in it and gotten out of it.

That said, my first point stands. If you’re 50 years old and sleeping in your car you fucked up somewhere along the way. And not just once but many many times, in a row. And are apparently STILL doing so.

Let’s say I’m living in my car. Great! low living expenses, making it easier to save some cash. Get a gym membership for showers and health/exercise and make it work for a few months or as long as needed to get a few thousand together. I’m working two jobs at minimum wage, 50-60 hours a week, of course. It’s not as if those jobs are difficult or I have anything better to do – what am I going to do, spend the evening relaxing in my car? No, I’m going to work my ass off to be able to afford an apartment.

Apartments are too expensive for my minimum wage earnings? Great point, I think I’ll take my nest egg and DRIVE SOMEWHERE THAT IS CHEAPER and get an apartment there. Because I work unskilled, minimum wage jobs I can replace my job when I get there. Once I’m stable, I rent a cheap apartment and start figuring out how to get a better job.

Rinse and fucking repeat. Anything preventing you from following that formula is a choice.

Kym Kemp
Admin
5 years ago
Reply to  Eurekite

Medical issues? Elderly family members who need help? Depressed? Broke down vehicle? Off the top of my head I can think of several problems that might make the scenario more difficult.

supa
Guest
supa
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

curious of percentage of differing causes, such as drugs and alcohol. or life circumstances. imo some people don’t understand freedom to be your best instead of your worst

Eurekite
Guest
Eurekite
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Those are all choices, Kym. If you are homeless you really can’t be focused on helping other people – it’s like in an airplane how they tell you to put your oxygen on mask first before helping others. What good are you as a helper if you can’t even help yourself? Being depressed is no excuse and exercise and having a job interacting with people will do far more for that than laying around in your car. Broken vehicle is the best point, and one of those curveballs you have to be ready for. It’s a tightrope ride to be super poor, which is the main reason people try to avoid being that close to the line. I’ve known many who were satisfied to linger at or near the bottom of that precipice, and they were the ones who paid a heavy price when inevitability came knocking.

for chronic inebriants there used to be facilities and there needs to be again. none of this “rehab” b/s, i’m talking open asylums more or less. That’s how this has been solved in the past, look it up, your TV and media won’t tell you about it.

Kym Kemp
Admin
5 years ago
Reply to  Eurekite

Medical issues are choices….? I can’t even get past that.

Damn, I chose to get Lyme Disease? Who knew?

What if my husband didn’t have a great job with great insurance? What if I hadn’t gotten great medical care? What if I didn’t have a husband and a support system that made sure I could get in and out of a bath and forced me to eat when I couldn’t think clearly?

I could possibly be living in a car without a business that I could no longer keep up.

Lots of people make bad choices sometimes (and I include myself in that) but some of us have circumstances that give us support to get us through the bad times and society is generally better for that.

Yes, there are people who continually throw themselves into situations and I am not sure I or society has the strength to save everyone but to lump the homeless all together as not having done enough sucks for them and, I believe for society.

Two people close to me have been homeless. They each got support from family to help them through the bad times. They each are successful and own their own homes today. But if they hadn’t had family support (think foster child, children of the mentally ill, etc.), their lives could have been so much worse. And, I argue, so would society.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Just think about what a vibrant community the whole east and west side of Eureka would have if people who worked there were the ones who lived there. Houses would be maintained, cars mostly unnecessary as commutes would be walking, bicycles or consolidated public transportation. The bay would be clean and vibrant. Crimes could be lessened and the whole area’s worst issue would be gentrification. Don’t say it is not possible because it was the way I lived my life for decades, making a point of living close enough to walk to work so that I minimalized expenses. Not only does a car become no longer a necessity but maintaining it no longer a burden.

It is the whole work opportunity with its accompaning work ethic that has been marginalised and needs resuscitation. With it, the social ills are minimalized rather than becoming a blister on society’s hinnie.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago

Maybe. So who is going to receive these subsidized apartments? ‘People in danger of being homeless.’ Not the already homeless. Basically it is a rental project that qualifies for tax breaks and low interest loans. It gives an occasional opportunity for social workers to offer subsidized low income rent assistance. That doesn’t make it a bad project but selling it as help for the homeless has the ring of the catch phrase “food insecurity.” It is not meant for the homeless just as “food insecurity” does not mean the hungry. It’s meant to make a profit from government funded programs. But the users will not be the hard core drug users or mentally ill. It will be people for whom coping is a stretch but a stretch they are currently covering. That and new offices for service providers. It is not going to put even the smallest dent in homelessness and selling it as such is not being truthful.

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Duckduckgo the 2020 urban development program for each county/city.
It’s a program by the c a i r to house their chosen peoples that will be arriving.
For instance:
http://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/news/u-s-national-news/1971-maxine-waters-arranging-41-000-somali-refugees-for-south-central-los-angeles-in-secret-with-cair

(be sure to archive the link offline, due to political censorship).

A different perspective
Guest
A different perspective
5 years ago

I see a lot of comments bashing Danco or some other developer for building these types of projects. Regardless of opinions about Danco and other developers, they are needed. I’m going to offer some info I know to be factual. I don’t work for a developer.

It is true that developers like Danco receive tax credits (which they can sell to Fortune 500 companies to cover costs and profit) for completing affordable housing projects. I don’t know if the same applies to Veteran/Homeless housing, but I think it does.

What many people fail to understand is that if these tax credits were not available to the developer, the project would never get built (unless there was a grant or endowment to cover costs). The costs of the land, project development, and construction are too high for non-market rate projects to be profitable or feasible for a developer. It just doesn’t pencil out. Not many people would build widgets for $10 each that they could only sell for $6 each. If they did, it wouldn’t be for long.

Developers don’t just decide one day to build affordable housing complexes for profit. They must go through years of work, and partner with an already established affordable housing developer on several projects to gain the required experience to qualify. This qualifying is not free, profitable, or easy. Think of it like going to college for a difficult degree that helps you get the career you want.

Once the developer is qualified to create affordable housing projects for tax credits, the work begins. Finding and purchasing the property, soil reports, EIR, creating a set of blueprints (employing an Architect, civil engineer, structural engineer, mechanical, electrical, & plumbing consultants, landscape architect, etc), & public meetings all take place. Eventually, if the project hasn’t been scrapped by this time, it is submitted to the public authority for approval.
During this time period, the developer has invested time and money ($250,000- $500,000, or more) in hopes of the project ever getting built. So far, the developer has created work for dozens of support companies and their employees, without any guarantee of a successful project and return on investment.

I should also mention that developers have to compete among themselves for the pool of available tax credits in the state each year. That means they must make their project bling with things like open spaces, solar power, super efficient HVAC, low water consumption, permeable pavement, accessible units, proximity to schools/shopping/public transportation.
In the rare case that the project is approved, it must be completed by a certain date or the tax credits are forfeit. There is no partial payment. All, or nothing.

Knowing all this, it seems to me the question shouldn’t be “why does the developer get to build these projects?”, but rather “why would they want to?”.

local observer
Guest
local observer
5 years ago

this is #16 of these types of projects for Danco communities/western living/etc in this area. I would say there is a fat “why” hidden in there.

supa
Guest
supa
5 years ago

must be some good easy profit, that’s why. definitely not from the goodness of their souls, har har

Sparkle Mahn
Guest
5 years ago

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. Hey: those would make good song lyrics!

TRUMPTASTROPHE for the GOP in November
Guest
TRUMPTASTROPHE for the GOP in November
5 years ago
Reply to  Sparkle Mahn

No they wouldn’t. That song is BORING.

Just a word of advice to Baby Boomers – a lot of the music you love is WAY LAME.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE ❤️ 60s & 70s music 🎶 that is not boring. Think of SOUL TRAIN 🚂🎤 as an example. Now Don Cornelius, there was a man with some seriously good musical taste. 👍🏿

John
Guest
John
5 years ago

A low income housing complex to be built on the present site of a used car lot. That’s cool. I don’t know what everybody’s freaking out about. That’s right across the street from where the North Coast Veterans’ Resource Center (essentially a “transitional housing” service) is anyway. So, it’s not likely going to have much negative impact on the area. Aside from the food co-op, there are mostly a few low-brow hotels and the Denny’s nearby.

Canyon oak
Guest
Canyon oak
5 years ago
Reply to  John

Problem solved, thanks liberals

TRUMPTASTROPHE for the GOP in November
Guest
TRUMPTASTROPHE for the GOP in November
5 years ago
Reply to  Canyon oak

Why, you are welcome sir or madam!
Enjoy the Blue Wave. 🌊🌊🐘🌊🌊

# Brett Kavanaugh Is A Rapist 🐘🚫

Kym Kemp
Admin
5 years ago

A woman made a credible accusation but it has not been proved in any reasonable way that he is a rapist.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

That, if made in a court, would be untenable as way past time for resolving with justice as impossible the accused to defend against. It is no more than a political ploy trotted out at the last minute as a Hail Mary pass with no time left.

I suspect that it will turn out like so many accusations from people who think that saying anything is justified if the opposition is hated- either untrue or irrelevant. Nope, the current political principle is to spread dirt as far as fast as you can and don’t let anything stop you. If it doesn’t stick, keep pitching until you bury them. There was never much public integrity but currently there is none.

LostCoastEMT
Guest
LostCoastEMT
5 years ago

Build the wall. Around eureka.

Eurekite
Guest
Eurekite
5 years ago
Reply to  LostCoastEMT

We could, but then how would all of the degenerates from the rest of the county get in to town to do their business?