McKinleyville’s Former Kmart Site Could Soon Get 22 New Signs
Press release from the County of Humboldt:
If you are interested in matters related to proposed signage in McKinleyville, you are encouraged to attend the Humboldt County Planning Commission’s upcoming meeting on Thursday, Sept. 4.
The Humboldt County Planning Commission will review a request for a conditional use permit to install 22 new signs, totaling 3,295 square feet, at the McKinleyville U-Haul property, commonly known as the former Kmart and Ray’s Food Place property, located at 1500 Anna Sparks Way in McKinleyville.
The signage being proposed is available for public review on the Humboldt County Planning & Building Department’s major projects web page.
Share Your Input
The Humboldt County Planning Commission invites and encourages the public to provide input on the proposed signage.
The proposal will be reviewed at the planning commission’s regular meeting on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 6 p.m. All interested members of the public are invited to attend and provide comments on the proposed signage. The meeting will be held in the Board of Supervisors Chamber, located in the Humboldt County Courthouse at 825 Fifth St. in Eureka. Community members may also attend the meeting on Zoom or watch a live stream of the meeting on the county’s meeting agenda web page or by watching Access Humboldt on cable Channel 11. Zoom information will be provided in the meeting agenda.
The County of Humboldt is committed to providing equal access to all county programs, services and activities through the provision of accommodations for individuals with qualified disabilities as required under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). With 72 hours prior notice, a request for reasonable accommodation for this meeting can be made by calling 707-268-3722.
For more information, or if you have questions or comments regarding the proposed signage, please contact Associate Planner Alice Vasterling at 707-268-3777 or email [email protected]
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Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
What kind of signs? Are there going to be 22 new business there? Billboards to existing McKinleyville business?
Paul Harvey, the rest of the story, please.
I second Steve. Is U-Haul going to put up 3000 square feet of signs?
Yes. The real question is, has anybody who’s making any of these decisions, studied the history behind UHaul moving into abandoned kmarts across the country. The two companies have a binding agreement that allows u haul first dibs on all kmart properties. This is strictly in towns that are failing, becoming unincorporated, or are in financial ruin essentially dead. It’s the only way they can get the most prime real estate for the cheapest cost. If we are going to incorporate ,U HAUL AND THE DUMP HAVE TO LEAVE. FUNDAMENTALLY, AND STATISTICALLY, WE WILL NEVER SUCCEED IN INCORPORATING OUR BELOVED TOWN!
UHAUL is a major hub with its presence being far more economically beneficial than empty stores that will not be filled. As far as the dump, we all create garbage. Would you rather we waste fuel driving it to Eureka?
By this corporacratic logic the best municipality would be AI data centers, Amazon warehouses and a few automated factories, no family units or people who own cars or breed.
Exactly how many people work at this glorious economic boon?
2
So they actually own it? They’re not leasing from the Piersons at ridiculous prices? I was hoping the owners would one day come to their senses and build a sort of town square lined with a multitude of businesses, and dare I say upperstory housing, in all that empty space.
Nobody answerd that one huh?
That Kmart site was available to anyone for years. There was no agreement with Uhaul. There is no real estate conspiracy
If you and Steve would click on the “proposed signage” link it describes the signs in detail. It includes the size, placement and quantity of each sign. 🤦♂️ 😏
Yep — if they’d read the story before commenting they’d know that.
Yes and all with that beautiful trademark “alien-taint” orange 🤗
3000 square feet of Orioles Orange really pops. If we’re lucky, they’ll put up a big ass flagpole too.
Then we can argue which flags fly and which ones don’t.
Looks like it will eliminate some confusion as to which building to go into for customers, assuming people actually read signs.
Whoever decided U haul would be a great idea to move into the shopping center and take the whole thing and limit on actual useful stores is a dumb ass! This was the stupidest decision ever made! I am against the signs. I am against U-Haul. I am against the whole operation that took place. That should have never happened because now you have a shopping center. That is non useful and you have no stores that sell any home essentials. Tanking mckinleyville!”looking at the next orick yall.
Was it really up to anyone else to decide though? Given the lack of incorporation I assume we have little say as to what corporate conglomerates can do to this little town?
Several new signs are OK with me, but not 22 totaling 3,295 square feet. Frankly I am sick and tired of all the signs now. No more please!
The transformation of busy shopping centers (like this was fairly recently) into rental storage follows the nationwide trend of decreasing jobs, increasing poverty, growing homeless population, and Mckinleyville is not immune.
With the “make america Great Depression again” fools in charge it won’t be long before home values crash, food prices skyrocket, most local stores close, and it’ll be just like the Good Old Days of 1929!
Good luck everyone!
And have a nice day!
Yup. There was no inflation, poverty, empty store fronts, homeless, etc before Trump got elected. Everything was sunny in Biden World.
We weren’t seeing record job losses across America at the least… Oh but Trump’s solution is the fire those reporting the bad numbers. That should fix everything.
Is this omment meant to be sarcasm? Or isit just fantasy?
The website illustrating the signage is quite detailed.
I looked at the link it still doesn’t explain very well. I would also like some more info.
Are we to assume those BIG retail buildings are being divided into 22 spaces, hence ’22 signs’?
As burblestein indicated above, here are the pdfs showing the 14 signs:
Proposed new signs (pdf) https://humboldtgov.org/DocumentCenter/View/140131/Proposed-New-Signs
Mock-ups (pdf) https://humboldtgov.org/DocumentCenter/View/140132/North-and-South-mock-ups
For me signs are not a issue.uhaul came in and cleaned up a shopping center that was filthy and unsafe for people to come.uhaul also provide jobs and has boosted business throughout McKinleyville.cash station restaurant etc.thank you uhaul for turning a dismal parking lot into something useful and safe to come to the other stores that are there
Why would UHaul need to erect and display 22 new signs? Are they hurting for business? Obviously, everyone knows who UHaul is. Aside from actually seeing and knowing the size, layout, and scope of the signage being proposed, we as a community should voice our opinion and demand a limit of no more than three signs – one for each visible corner. Idealistically, one large sign on a mast or masts at the northeast corner of School Rd. and Central Ave. would and should be sufficient.
Having lived in McKinleyville since early 1992 I have seen it grow from 6,000 people to a population of 18,500+ today. If housing construction trends continue as they have for the past 30 years, McKinleyville will surpass Eureka (pop: 26,000+) within the next 20-25 years. The new trail bordering McKinleyville’s eastern edge was an excellent decision, in my opinion. This being said, I believe us residents here in McKinleyville need to focus on more important matters, such as opening both McKinleyville Ave. through to School Rd. and Hiller Rd. to Highway 101. Both plans would relieve congestion on Washington Ave. and Central Ave.
Hells yeah!!
These are not “22” signs. It is a mixture of artsy directional imaging along with literal directional signage. There are also images of people moving and having a positive experience while also advertising our moving supplies.
Though, at this center there will be images advertising “Climate control & secured/alarmed storage”.