Amazon in Humboldt? The Permits Are Moving
[Amazon logo – public domain. Sourced via WikiMedia Commons]
Through Public Records Act requests, Redheaded Blackbelt has obtained county documents showing that building permits have been applied for a distribution facility in McKinleyville known as the McKinley Project — and those documents tie the project to Amazon.
The proposed facility would be located at 3110 Boeing Avenue, in the Airport Business Park area of McKinleyville.
What RHBB found in the records
Sonya Kinz is listed as the applicant for a coastal development permit and lot line adjustment in the Airport Business Park, filed on October 21, 2025, with the Humboldt County Planning and Building Department.
Permit applications describe a last-mile distribution center, the type of facility Amazon uses to move packages arriving by air or by truck into delivery vans that then fan out to homes and businesses across a region.
The applications were filed by Sonya Kinz, who is listed in county planning documents as the project applicant. Kinz is a senior development manager with Panattoni Development Company, a large industrial real estate firm that specializes in warehouses and logistics facilities and is widely known for developing projects for Amazon across California and the country.
Using a development firm to apply for permits on behalf of a corporate client is common for large logistics projects and allows companies to navigate local approval processes without filing directly.
How is the project tied to Amazon
According to Steve Lazar, a senior planner with the Humboldt County Planning and Building Department, a distribution center at 3110 Boeing Avenue in McKinleyville is currently moving through the county permitting process.
Lazar said the county is reviewing an application for a distribution facility at that location, which was submitted in October 2025. When asked whether the project was being developed for Amazon, Lazar said that none of the county documents he had reviewed identified Amazon as the operator of the project, and instead listed a development firm as the applicant.
While much of the planning paperwork refers only to a generic delivery facility under the title Project McKinley, other records obtained by Redheaded Blackbelt provide additional context.
Excerpts from a Chicago Title Insurance Company preliminary report indicating the proposed buyer is Amazon.com Services LLC
A Chicago Title Company title report prepared in April 2025 lists Amazon’s subsidiary, Amazon.com Services LLC, as the proposed insured, a step that typically occurs while a property sale is underway but before ownership is finalized.
Other documents* prepared for Panattoni Development Company, listing Sonya Kinz as the project contact — identifies the site by parcel numbers. In multiple communications included with those documents, the project is referred to as the “Airport Business Park Amazon Project.” Both the title report and the other documents reference the same Boeing Avenue location and associated parcel numbers, tying the distribution center currently under county review to Amazon by name.
What the proposed facility would include
Arborist Report showing proposed project site.
Project descriptions and technical studies submitted with the application outline a last-mile distribution facility of roughly 40,000 square feet, spread across approximately 9 acres within the Airport Business Park area near the Arcata–Eureka Airport.
The proposed building would be a single-story warehouse, constructed primarily of concrete tilt-up panels, with a height consistent with other industrial buildings in the area. Plans show multiple loading dock doors for incoming shipments, along with at-grade access and dedicated parking areas for delivery vans that would serve local routes throughout Humboldt County.
The site is designed to accommodate both delivery vans and larger freight vehicles, with internal circulation allowing trucks to enter, unload, and exit without backing onto public roads. Given the project’s location near the airport, project materials indicate shipments could arrive by truck and potentially by air, with packages transferred from aircraft or freight vehicles to the facility before being sorted for local delivery.
Once inside, packages would be sorted and staged for same-day or next-day delivery, then loaded into vans that would fan out across the region.
Site features and environmental considerations
Project McKinley renderings
The project site includes previously disturbed industrial land but plans and studies note the presence of trees and vegetation along portions of the property, particularly near parcel edges. Tree removal and trimming are addressed in the application, with mitigation measures proposed where required.
Environmental and technical studies submitted so far include traffic analysis, cultural resources review, and other site assessments. According to county planners, the project is currently awaiting completion of a required bee and plant study, while several other studies have already been submitted and reviewed.
Traffic studies anticipate an increase in daily vehicle trips, particularly delivery vans entering and leaving the site throughout the day, as well as scheduled freight deliveries. These impacts are being evaluated as part of the county’s permitting process, alongside noise, air quality, and stormwater management considerations.
Timeline and projected buildout
The project application was submitted in October 2025 and remains under county review. While no construction start date has been approved, project materials include a preliminary estimate that construction and build-out could extend into the late 2020s, with some documents referencing an anticipated completion around 2028, assuming required studies are completed and approvals proceed without major delays.
No building permits have yet been issued, and timelines could shift depending on the outcome of remaining environmental reviews.
Part of a broader rural delivery expansion
The McKinleyville project aligns with a much larger push by Amazon to expand its delivery network in rural and small-town America.
In spring 2025, Amazon announced it planned to triple the number of rural delivery stations nationwide, investing roughly $4 billion to bring faster delivery to customers in less populated areas. The company said the effort was aimed at placing delivery hubs closer to rural communities, cutting delivery times, and expanding access to same-day and next-day shipping.
As part of that expansion, Amazon has already moved forward on several Northern California projects. A last-mile delivery hub in Ukiah is currently under development and expected to open later this year, though Amazon has not publicly announced a specific completion date. In Redding, Amazon broke ground on a last-mile delivery station in August 2025, with plans for that facility to become operational in 2026.
Amazon has said that each new delivery station typically creates dozens to hundreds of jobs, including warehouse positions, delivery drivers, supervisors, and contractor opportunities, while also increasing delivery traffic in surrounding communities.
If approved and built, the McKinleyville distribution center would fit squarely within that national expansion — placing Humboldt County on the map as part of Amazon’s growing rural delivery network, with the benefits and impacts that come along with it.
Project site near the Arcata-McKinleyville Airport
What it could mean for the community
If approved and built, the distribution center could bring new jobs, including warehouse workers, drivers, supervisors, and maintenance staff. In other Northern California communities, Amazon has promoted similar facilities as sources of steady employment.
For customers, a local distribution hub often translates into faster delivery times, including same- or next-day shipping.
At the same time, last-mile facilities typically bring more delivery traffic, particularly vans entering and leaving throughout the day. Environmental and traffic studies submitted with the application examine potential impacts to local roads, noise levels, air quality, and cultural resources.
The cultural resources study prepared for the McKinley Project found no known tribal cultural sites within the project area, provided standard protections are followed.
A familiar Humboldt question
For residents, the McKinley Project raises familiar questions: how growth fits into a rural county, how many jobs come with it, how traffic changes daily life, and how decisions are made long before construction ever begins.
For now, the public record shows a distribution center tied to Amazon quietly moving through the permitting process in McKinleyville, with the potential to shape how goods, jobs, and delivery traffic move through Humboldt County in the years ahead.
Redheaded Blackbelt contacted Sonya Kinz by phone. She said she was not able to take our call. We have also reached out directly to Amazon’s public relations department by email to ask about the project, anticipated job numbers, and the company’s plans for Humboldt County. No response had been received as of publication.
*Note: This article has been updated after it was originally published to remove documents that were inadvertently shared with Redheaded Blackbelt at the request of county counsel.
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This should force those hands over in Richardson Grove. Amazon won’t put up with extremely long routes into Humboldt county.
This has nothing to do with that area. This is for serving the greater population in northern Humboldt…
Yes it dose, all that stuff has to get here to then be delivered. So maybe not, 299 is a longer route. Much Amazon now comes out of Medford.
Yes, it does. A lot of the Amazon trucks do come through Richardson’s Grove.
Correct! They operate large trucks on the highways and biways. Traffic on the 299 and 199 could be effected. More trucks mean more road maintenance. I Hope that’s a consideration.
Just name 199 Trump One and 299 Trump two and he might pay for the road maintenance!
“The president would release federal funds for a massive rail tunnel project connecting New York and New Jersey on the condition that two major travel hubs [Penn Station and Dulles International Airport] be renamed in his “honor”
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/05/trump-wanted-dulles-airport-and-penn-station-named-after-him-to-release-rail-tunnel-funds-00768242
This is actual 4d chess moves.
better idea than most others
Why would they be building the warehouses before the Richardson grove issue is settled if they won’t put up with that?
It seems likely to me that Amazon is planning to use airfreight to get things to these warehouses.
You can fly cargo in on bigger planes than what FedEx does at Murray field a couple times a day. Fewer flights, bigger cargo planes, fewer trucks coming into the area. Things don’t get held up so long in Sacramento or bounced around with other airports. And then trucked up 2-3 days later. If that’s what they intend to do.
Many orders to this area are fulfilled from Portland it seems. Tho it is be considered that once they are here they will grow their political influence and their contribution to the private sector labor will give them immense weight. They will be able to change things they want to change later, after their hold is secure.
So I would guess the grove is in danger if they at any point after they get here decide the profit they would make would be worth splitting with politicians like so many times before we will find that our voice isn’t even heard in Sacramento. We will be outclassed in all measures of corporate struggle with small town rules.
SoHum is served out of Eureka (UPS) and Arcata (FedEx). They would not build to only serve a small portion of the county.
The US Postal Service delivers many of the Amazon packages in the Humboldt region.
Last I heard Amazon is walking away from its contracts with both UPS and USPS, planning on doing its own deliveries. So having a distribution center on the North Coast makes sense.
As a result, UPS expects to handle 1 million fewer daily packages from Amazon, resulting in restructuring, job cuts, and facility closures.
I believe they (UPS) was losing $$ big time in their contracts with Amazon.
Union wages at UP$
https://mendovoice.com/2026/01/amazon-is-building-a-new-delivery-center-just-outside-of-ukiah-what-could-it-mean-for-the-community/
That would check out since they’re coming to Mendo as well
Which is why it takes forever to get packages now.
Kids these days…
It wasn’t that long ago that “please allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery” was standard.
Now people moan and complain if we have to wait 6 to 8 days–
and even waiting that long is quite rare unless it’s getting shipped out of China.
I ordered a live “chameleon” (anole) from an add in the back of Boys Life magazine. ($2.99, I think.) It took almost the whole 8 weeks to arrive, but it was totally worth the wait. In many ways, “the good old days” were better.
My mom got a mail-order pet raccoon from a catalog when she was a kid in the 60s. It arrived diseased and she spent all her allowance/birthday money at the vet, but it died. When someone asked what she got for her birthday she said “a $100 vet bill and a dead baby raccoon 😭 🦝 ”
I was a kid in the 70s. 🙂 Maybe ur right about impatience. But with technology, expectations changed. Mine included. I’m not a whiner.We played dodgeball, and you had to insult or fight someone in person. Lol. But if they say 5 days, then dang, it ought to be 5 days, not 12. That started happening in my mind after USPS.
At least it’s a small footprint as distribution centers go, unlike some that are in Nevada. Hell, Pet Smarts building alone has more square footage than all of the Eureka Mall, including all the parking areas
And the companies that print and create all the boxes for that packaging and warehousing are even bigger. I used to work at one. 1.3 million sq. feet at one of 5 plants and all it did was print food-grade boxesm and it wasn’t even a top 100 in the industry. This distro point is but a shack by comparison. I think it’ll help in keeping fewer trucks on the road if it can come by air.
Let the protests begin. Madrone has sold out his fan base. The Richardson Grove will be a clearcut. Madrone will push for it. Jobs? No new jobs just a shift form UPS, USPS, Fedx and all those contract delivery drivers, to Amazon drivers. And the warehouse crew from Walmart and costco.
You hit the nail on the head. It will be a shift in jobs that is not good for the employees of our county. Lower pay usually translates into higher employee turnover which affects the consistency of deliveries. As someone who works in the delivery industry I’ve seen how this changes the service customers rely on to receive their packages.
Lower paying jobs without quality benefits such as medical and retirement affect the growth of our county. It’s very difficult to purchase a home while making substandard wages. Or maybe forcing someone to forego medical treatment because their health insurance is subpar. Or being unable to have a dream of retirement or saving for your children’s education because you must live check to check. The future will definitely be bleaker.
For those that remember when the Bayshore Mall opened lots of promises were made about how it was going to improve our community. All it did was put a lot of local businesses out business. And now the mall is a shell of itself. With very few useful stores inside, and I’m sure jobs that don’t offer much of a future. Its main purpose now seems to be a tax write off for its parent company.
The only person who succeeds with opening another Amazon Fulfillment Center is Jeff Bezos, the founder and Executive Chair of Amazon, whose current net worth is over $200 billion dollars. But hey who doesn’t need a $500 million dollar super yacht or a $237 million dollar property in Florida or a $165 million dollar home in Beverly Hills. Plus a $65 million dollar Gulfstream to get you where you need to go.
Please consider how much low paying jobs are actually worth.
The Bayshore Mall was already going downhill, Walmart greased the wheels. Amazon just may be the nail in the coffin. Like many malls across the country, we could end up with another Devil’s Playground in front of the old one. It might make a nice place to house the homeless.
Madrone terms out this election cycle.
Just in time. The deed is done….literally.
The deed was done in 1985 when they decided to make that area a “business park”. The county supervisor doesn’t personally recruit or even approve every business that comes to their district. If the use is permitted under that zoning than there’s really nothing for the county supervisor to do.
OH paaleese. Madrone has been pushing McKvill his whole term. And that park was going to be the big money maker when/if it filled in. Its getting there. If they dont fuck up this deal.
What makes you think the county supervisor has any say, yes or no, over a light industrial use on a parcel that is already zoned for light industrial use?
That commecial zone is steveys pet project. He just dosnt get economics very well. He just sold out a bunch of union jobs for Amazon.
Ha! It was commercially zoned in 1985. There was a zoning update in 2000, Madrone didn’t become a supervisor until 2018. The business park and the zoning predate his tenure by decades.
No, he’s just building on what was built 40 years ago. What did you expect him to do, put up a wind farm there?
He did try. But it was opposed.
I wouldn’t have thought that there’s enough wind to justify a wind farm there. A fog catcher? Yes, a device made of mesh placed perpendicular to the wind that catches water droplets. I guess we’re probably not thirsty enough in this town. Appropriate technology is really cool.
Sometimes when I read your comments I wonder, “is he really that ignorant or stupid?”
Wow, 5 downvotes, and all the other
supportive posts, wins scariest of
the internet this month. How can this portion of Humbodtians, especially, not understand? The ONLY people that benefit from Amazon’s existence are its owners. How do they do that? By taking from all of you. Taking your products quality, taking their quantity, lengthening time to acquire (local is often instant, and even more so used to be), taking the health of your social and environmental systems (taking jobs, taking wages, and so many new forms of pollution, here and far), and then charging you, on average, very similar prices to what could traditionally be found. How is this not common knowledge? These things have all been proved time and again. Most especially, the extra pollution and job loss from dealing mostly in cheap, Chinese made products. How does this alone not erode all support for this company, and the ouchede anoece who owns it? 😢
Mostly everybody I know is poor now. Shopping on Amazon and Walmart for the cheapest options is an act of survival. Sorry we can’t all be hip and groovy but maybe we don’t have trust funds, inheritances or overpaid government jobs….Times are hard here now so get real
Economics and physics. Two important sciences. Not found at CPH. Six downvotes now. All prius drivers no doubt.
Then I realize, “yes, he is.”
Local isn’t instant if no one has what we’re looking for. And if I need distributor-level quantities of something, guess what? Somebody has to warehouse it for me or send it to me from a bigger supplier that’s somewhere else. You know, Amazon, Home Depot, any grocery store, Costco, whatever, are just warehouses for other people’s items? What if I have 50,000 of something that doesn’t sell here, but I can through Amazon marketplace? Whose wages did I actually steal in the transportation? I’m sure as not going to pay 200 delivery drivers wasting time and fuel to move all that product when one will do. Your opinion is based on emotions, not the logistics of moving freight.
Or you know, go apply for a job at the new distribution center.
Because most people are not rich like you.
Pay MSRP at a “local” store or 60% of that at amazon? Such a “difficult” decision! And let’s stop pretending “local” stores pay living wages.
Fun fact: you are posting with a “Chinese made product.”
Has anyone noticed how every national chain of commerce, once in Humboldt, turns into shit. Whenever i travel and use these nationals i see much better stores, merchandise, and food, than the sister stores here. Here we get empty shelves, substandard food, dirty stores, idiot employees. In/Out is a good example. They run this location pretty good, but, the food just is not up to par.
Totally. Even in smallish communities like Redding and Chico. Our Kohls here screams ” Abandon all hope ye who enter “. We definitely are the garbage dump of the other stores.
Disagree about In/Out tho. Employees always tidy, friendly, food much better than any other fast food to me. 🙂
Ukiah is worse. I don’t know why. Quality picks up again by Santa Rosa…
Good burgers, but their fries suck (not just in Eureka). I just skip the fries and order two burgers.
Yes property and employees are top notch. But the food is not quite the same…..I gave up on them. Wendy’s is better. But i dont do a lot of FF.
My closet is better stocked that kohls.
😆
I expect USPS, FedEx, and UPS to be negatively effected by this.
We will still need those guys to deliver all the other things we order on line from Chewy, Target, Walmart and others. USPS delivers Amazon now, I doubt that will change. Come ON people, we need to meet the moment in the 21st!
Jobs will shift from USPS and UPS to Amazon, which will also effect FedEx because of competition in shipping services markets. That is how the 21st century is going; a great reset to centralized wealth. I’d be disgusted about that, not poor people being concerned about getting their cheap China plastic one day earlier.
Hello? They were already shifting to independent contractors who are hiring cheaper immigrant labor. People who stuffed packages willy nilly into assorted personal vehicles, trying to deliver without understandable English. At least any Amazon distribution center employees are like to be legally permitted.
Oh you mean like OnTrac? No thanks. I’d rather my packages be delivered by a kid on a bike.
I for one am happy On Crack isn’t delivering my packages anymore. There was a 6 day window of when your shipment would arrive by some random guy after dark in a jalopy of some sort.
Like your news?
Who the hell gets takes from the news who isn’t retiree aged? This is one of the funniest parts of the whole cartel from the east taking over old media, who even uses it? The product is free exchange of ideas, they wont sell it to you from the corporate outlets, cuz they all psyop fronts for literal old cannibals staying alive on stolen organs, ya gotta go find the truth, but beware it exacts a toll on you to not, be able to enjoy the inside of your cell once you learn its a condemned row cell can wear down the tread on your soul.
No. OnTrac is as you say but these were deliveries from two local stores in January. One was from the local Walmart but the other one was tracking indicated it was going to be from FedEx but it wasn’t, so I don’t know what is going on. Since they were 2 of 3 I had in January, it was concerning.
I think you mean illegal immigrant labor? It’s important to distinguish between “illegal immigrant labor” and “immigrant labor’. Everybody- especially the media- wants to confuse the issue by combining those terms but….they are two very different groups of people
I have not idea as to immigration status. Legal as well as illegal immigrants take what jobs they can .
We just can’t have nice things here as someone will stage a protest, sue the developers and run them off so Humboldt stays in the dark ages . As a person who orders from Amazon due to lack of goods and prohibitive high pricing here, I say YAY. Jobs are good for Humboldt. We’re the third poorest county in the state.
They’re not good jobs. Barely above minimum wage with a poor benefit package doesn’t equate to a long career or give back to the community. The cyclical effect on where people spend their money will be felt throughout the county.
Idk I have a good friend who drives for Amazon in Ohio and he’s making good money and solid benefits. So… maybe you’re not the expert you think you are.
Or Sara maybe the cost of living in Ohio is less than California. An example would be gasoline prices which as of today is $2.812/gallon. in California it’s currently $4.42/ gallon. Or the average price of a home in Ohio is about $235,00 in California its over $800,000. I would like to hear exactly what your friend’s compensation package includes, wages, medical insurance, retirement plan and paid time off. I can be as opened minded as any expert or non-expert.
So, let’s just continue to have nothing. God, Im so sick of the naysayers. Its so wild to be happy with the wayyyy below standard of living, desperate tax base, no health care, scant resource situation we live in.
The very best case inevitable outcome here is retirees from the elite corporate governance and education circle with a mix of san fran refugees. They will retire here and spend money they don’t work for, there will be no local economy to speak of except minimum wage to service the systems that take care of the retirees. This place is propped up by outside political money to use as a set piece for their street theater.
Ohhh and read the files.
Gas here is $4.90/gallon. Thanks to all the CA taxes and our special gas formulation to combat climate change and make us healthier- LOL. Personally I am healthier when my wallet isn’t being raped daily by a government who is then wasting that money….
Amazon official data (2025-2026): Average base pay for fulfillment/distribution center roles >$23/hour. Average total compensation (including benefits value) >$30/hour.
For full-time (40 hours/week): ~$47,840+ base annually; total package ~$62,400+ annually.
Varies by location, role, and tenure. Benefits include health care, 401(k) match, paid time off, stock options, and Prime membership.
Looks like a pretty good job for Humboldt County
UPS drivers are about $100K.
Most employees do not work directly for Amazon. They are often gig workers for a third party that does not pay as well or provide equal benefits
An old friend of mine here used to work for them as a remote CSR agent. Hated the job, but the money was decent (as an actual, not 1099 employee) and they worked from home for a couple of years.
How many of the employees are full time, though? Lots of jobs advertise a good hourly wage, but then it turns out to be only 16 hours per week.
Because Congress and California keep passing laws that make it cheaper to have three part-time employees than one full-time one.
The unintended consequences of authoritarian social control meeting a dynamic market. The market will create new conditions to maximize profit and historically meddling to achieve a goal has had the opposite effect than intended, comics call this irony.
I agree with disgusted- I’ll still shop local when I can but Amazon is just the thing in this moment in time that works the best. It’s not ideal and yes the jobs aren’t careers but it’s better than slowly descending into the dark ages, which is what happens when we continually do nothing in Humboldt County due to competing special interests.
IMHO:
>’…project is currently awaiting completion of a required bee and plant study,’
Newsomites are killing any job creation up here.
Not a fan of Bezos. And I hear they treat their warehouse employees like crap.
“And I hear they treat their warehouse employees like crap.”
Not even that good.
Yet people will complain endlessly about businesses like Pierson’s trying to keep box companies out. They have lots of long term employees despite little better pay so they must be doing something right. Even if their owners are rich, which gets the left to weigh in against them too. . The trouble is that people want cheap prices which can not support good jobs.
I tried for years to shop local but it got harder and harder and harder. Finally I asked one store owner if anything they sold was made in the US and it wasn’t. Most local store owners are no more interested in supporting good wages than anyone else.
With the caveat that I thank the ACE employee who offered to special order something for me. I could have ordered it more cheaply off Amazon but then I wouldn’t have had his help in figuring it out. That is worth the extra cost. 👍
imagine a tech company (AWS Cloud) also is the largest employer of drones in warehouses, think vault tech experiments, they manipulate their employees to gather data to be able to manage them by algorithm better. The reality you are in is so much darker than anyone cares to admit, even after they are told and see it they are still shrouded in suspension of belief.
Another reason to despise Bezos:A vote for this project supports a fan of the Trump agenda, with its Big, Ugly Bill slashing health care and closes our rural Hospitals, all at ther expense of middle class and poor working taxpayers, the disabled, and elderly amongst us, in order to give poor Steve and his fellow billionaires a big tax break..He also just slashed his employees at the Washington Post, because they’ve been a little too critical of Diaper Donnie,his White House toadies, and White Nationalist apologists..
Stand Up and say no to anything and everything that supports Steve Bezos. The only thing that matters to him is consumer dollars, so let’s boycott him and his ilk everyway we can ..
Jeff Bezos.
Let the protests begin…!!!
Humboldt County, your time has come to fully pledge fealty and bow down to Master Bezos and his empire.
I has already been in the news that Amazon will break ties with the post office to pay people less money to unsafely deliver packages. The post office is one of the few living wage jobs for hardworking people without college degrees. It will not be good for our local economy. Families who earn less have less to spend at local businesses. The whole goal of widening Richardson Grove has been for big business.
Low income families are already priced out of local businesses a long ass time ago. Where you been?
Your point is hugely valid, the privilege to eat local and consume good quality things is what we lost when we lost the middle class. Anyone who can afford to protest corporations by spending money elsewhere is in a privileged class and most dont see it that way from their side of the argument. The real feeling that they should keep a pace on is this idea that the poors are getting that anyone not poor is taking part in the wholesale destruction of our nation and the fabric of our society. In the end when the truth of what the future holds for american born Americans is fully realized i predict class struggles viewed along the lines of you got yours by looking the other way at evil doing its thing. Those who are losing it all are feeling it went somewhere, prosperity didn’t evaporate we sent it overseas, or it was stolen by those who profited from it going overseas.
Wait a minute before protesting. Small businesses need efficient supply chains to compete with big box distribution advantages. Do you just want businesses in Humboldt that have the scale to cover the retrucking necessary to get past the Richardson Grove bottleneck. With the new Amazon center in Ukiah, they can retruck in Ukiah and stage in Mckinleyville efficiently for the rest of us. “Just say No!” didn’t work for Nancy Reagan. It’s not working for the Humboldt economy.
Good point
IMHO, the Grove is just practice for up-and-coming attorneys. It really isn’t needed. 299 is far more STAA compliant than that stretch will ever be, and really, it isn’t necessary to use 101. Ukiah can be used for some staging, as well as Redding or Anderson (FedEx), where other big box stores already do, and just haul it over from there.
OMG, we might have to change our attitude toward immigration.
That made me lol 😂
Not sure what you mean, but I will point out the proposed site is only 0.1 mile away from the Federal Courthouse…
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/3140+Boeing+Ave,+McKinleyville,+CA+95519/3110+Boeing+Ave,+McKinleyville,+CA+95519/@40.9672418,-124.1168778,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x54d1452cb30a3467:0x71017fc09eba07dd!2m2!1d-124.1146528!2d40.9666609!1m5!1m1!1s0x54d1452b7d12d3c7:0x58623614fa7b1c38!2m2!1d-124.1151465!2d40.9681583!3e0!5m1!1e2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDIwNC4wIKXMDSoKLDEwMDc5MjA3M0gBUAM%3D
Anybody see the Melania blockbuster yet?
Clearly, this will tie in with the airport, and the ever expanding, Amazon Air…
Prepare for air traffic arrivals and departures to significantly increase…
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/04/map-of-amazon-air-locations-.html
I remember some years back there was a push to extend the length of the runways @ ACV. Rumor had it the bulb farms wanted to create accessibility to 747s flying in and out.
I’ve also heard that major airlines would like to have access to our area as refueling options on long haul flights going to Hawaii and Asia from the East Coast. It would be cheaper than Seattle or San Francisco.
Maybe Bezos will open the Silver Lining again!!
I watched Air Force One land here with no problems with LBJ. Ladybird and the Reagans
That was a VC-137, a variant of the 707.
Its runway requirements are up to 1,000 feet shorter than a 747.
At 6,046 ft, ACV’s runway would be at the absolute minimum required for an empty 747.
Thanks for that. I wasnt sure about the larger planes, but it was no problem for that plane.
Still too short. An empty 747 needs more like 9000 to do it safely. Even 10K+. For comparison, Princess Juliana airport in St. Maarten, where all those wild big jet videos come from, is 7,546′ so it’s technically doable at that length. I seem to recall AirWest/Hughes Air using 727s and DC-9s out of ACV way back when.
One of the aircraft that Amazon Air utilizes is the Boeing 737-800BCF…
Most likely the one that Amazon will utilize at the Arcata/McKinleyville Airport.
Being at sea level and cool, the runway there could likely reasonably accommodate the 737-800BCF…
I’m sure you did.
Amazon Warehouse Pay in McKinleyville, CA (as of February 2026):
While specific data for McKinleyville, CA is not available, nearby high-paying locations in California include Scotts Valley ($46,590/year), Wasco ($46,216/year), and Cupertino ($44,417/year), where hourly wages range from $21.19 to $22.40.
Those are very high cost of living area, and they are not paying a living wage.
The average cost for a home in Cupertino is over $2,000,000. The average cost for rent is over $3,000. I’m not sure how earning $44,417/year before taxes is a sustainable lifestyle?
And the UPS jobs they will replace are $100k/year.
Amazon “jobs” are not a benefit to the community. They turn and burn, it’s their model. They push the driver or warehouse workers to the limit and anticipate a burnout around a year or so in. They do not want long term employees, they want quickly trained employees to overload with work until they quit. Lets not be so desperate for work that we degrade our community in the process.
Exactly!
“Degrade our community”?! Like when the Abatement Program drove the local weed growers all out of business and handed all that to corporate mega-grows in other areas? Or like when we decided to attract every low-life drug addict to Eureka? Or like when we did everything for wealthy folk and screw the working class? Because as far as I can tell we have been “Degrading our community” for decades here…
Yes, and that Abatement program was designed by none other than Steve Lazar, who is quoted in this article.
Can we force them to pay double minimum wage?
Gavin will. He will consult with AOC on how to negotiate with Amazon.
Can’t happen. Bezos changed teams.
“Amazon secured a $40 million licensing deal for a documentary about Melania Trump, following a private dinner between Bezos and the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/12/12/jeff-bezos-amazon-planning-1-million-donation-to-trump-inauguration-matching-meta/
The tech guys were willing to give Trump a shot, but he’s blown it pretty bad for any moderates who may have been on board. Still, smart money goes knows the pulse of the country and can sense who’s ass they need to kiss to stay in power.
Changed teams?
Teams?
Pay closer attention.
you think there is teams still? You still have faith that this isnt one big game being played by literal wizards?
LOLOL!!!
If they’re on salary, then yes. And this is why you see a lot of low and mid level management jobs are still hourly in CA. It saves a lot of money. And if you pay double the minimum wage, then they also get to require Ph.D levels of education and experience for it. And you’ll never see salary jobs again.
Exempt (no overtime) salaried CA employees must be paid no less than 2x the state minimum
Sounds like a good opportunity for jobs. Only concern is if they need people to move here to fill some of the jobs, where are they gonna live? Housing is a huge detriment to potential growth in our area.
Humboldt currently has a 5% unemployment rate, so there are lots of people already here and looking for work.
I don’t really picture many people moving into our area to work at an Amazon distribution center.
But new housing development is already either in the planning stages or is already being developed: McKinleyville’s Town Center plans between 1,300 and 2,600 new units. https://kymkemp.com/2025/10/23/mckinleyville-town-center-reaches-approval-milestone/
Arcata’s Gateway Area Plan proposed up to 3,000 new units. https://lostcoastoutpost.com/loco-media/loco-media/agendizer/agenda/360/2.5_Gateway.2024.05.14.pdf
And construction on Eureka’s plan to add several hundred units of affordable housing is already underway. https://www.eurekaca.gov/1065/Affordable-Housing-on-City-Owned-Lots
I do share the concerns of other commenters that these jobs will likely pay below the living wage, and may even negatively impact companies that do pay living wages such as UPS and USPS.
No Amazon actually pays well to my understanding. That is great for humboldt. The unemployment rate only keeps track of people who applied. There is alot of people trying to survive that didn’t bother with unemployment. It would be better in Southern humboldt, where the unemployed actually live. Mckinleyville eureka and fortuna are mostly made up of retirees, they are not looking for work.
They cant build in sohum. No electric grid upgrade has been done. $P$G$E$ wants us to pay for it.
Garbage company for garbage humans.
Amazon: The bottom feeder of bottom feeders.
Humboldt will be assimilated into the beast.
They have turnips at the coop, dont miss out…………….
Lettuce turnip the beet.
Imagine whirled peas.
Don’t worry, things will turnip for the better!
If we squash the state!
Pear your losses Humboldt people. Get out before it all here inevitably gets much worse.
Trying. Been here 30 yrs, worse each yr.
Booooooooooooooo
Fuck Jeff [edit]. We don’t need more underpaying , shit jobs with an employer that has built employee exploitation into a business plan. These workers are mistreated as a rule. If they operated above board, they wouldn’t be sneaking into our communities under the guise of shell companies. Wake up!
Jeff Bezos needs another yacht. Get to work, Humboldt serfs.
Never bought anything from Amazon (or any other mega-store), never will.
But surely as the sun rises, the local store you buy from has.
That’s what my millionaire neighbor crows about….
well now you can get you groceries form whole foods in one day. Win Win……
Amazon plans on reducing its workforce by over 600,000 jobs in the coming years to be replaced efficiently by Robotics and Ai. There will probably be a few jobs to keep the robots running smoothly and manage the place, but this isn’t going to be a huge job creator long-term, in my opinion.
How sad. I’m so sorry to the neighborhoods that are going to have to put up with these buildings.
Not to worry, The business park is next to the airport. No housing around and if there is looking at a metal warehouse would be better than listening to airplanes.
Well, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, is the old saying.
I wrote something about this last year referencing an article about the state of the economy in Humboldt. About Amazon bringing a sorting facility here… I was half joking, but, I guess, not far off.
It kind of seems inevitable. Also, we rely on shipped in goods a lot in rural areas. Groceries are exageratedly highly priced in the country. Ray’s, in Willow Creek, hikes their prices by hundreds of percent – because they know they can get it.
Our town has a lot of shipments. The postal clerks now receive UPS packages from Amazon. They have said that they have had over 400 boxes in one day. That’s a lot for two people.
So I’m not surprised. Amazon will use their own vehicles, which will cut down business for UPS and maybe Fed Ex. It will take a lot of stress off of the post office.
This should bring in jobs, though they will be minimum wage and probably will bring an unreasonable employer – difficult deadlines, drivers urinating in coke bottles, etc.
I’m sure there will be a backlash. University students protesting big capitalists moving in and funneling money to a trillionaire…
However, not unlike having a military base built nearby, it will have pro’s and con’s. In net, it will bring jobs and also possibly facilitate other businesses that can use regular, timely deliveries in their supply chain. Not to mention small businesses that can use the facility to ship sales.
The Board of Supervisors probably had a quiet hand in the background of this.
Good job.
Oh! And we may see their unmanned vehicles in the area, making deliveries. That should be interesting!
It likely also has something to do with a five or 10 year plan of projected growth.
As for Richardson Grove, I expect that this move is a means of avoiding truck traffic through Richardson Grove. There is a reason the project is located at the airport industrial park in McKinleyville. Amazon Air operates a massive, rapidly growing cargo network, transporting approximately 450,000 packages daily with a fleet of over 100 aircraft in addition to shipping packages by contract with other air carriers. With a last-mile warehouse in Ukiah and one in McKinleyville, there will be no need to transit through Richardson Grove.
BOYCOTT AMAZON! Every day! In every way!
And if you have to pay a few more dollars or wait another day or 2 to get your merchandise, think that you are DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR WORKERS AND YOUR COUNTRY!
For all you football fans out there arguing about trucks and routes, I would like to point out to you mental masters that the proposed location is mere feet from ACV. Nothing in bulk will be coming over the highway to this facility. Cargo will come in by aircraft and be distributed by surface and air drones out of the Amazon facility.
I want to be “from the redwood forest” and not the Amazon jungle of consumerism. I’ve never bought a thing from Bezos and I never hope to and wish people would shop at brick and mortar and, if ordering online, do it directly from the company.
Amazon has laid off. 30,000 in the last 2 months.
whatever happens, it won’t last
The billionaires to the rescue
Go Seahawks!
I have worked for a couple of Fortune 500 companies for decades and, in my opinion, the top corporate people are basically politicians who would stab their own mothers in the back to get ahead and/or stay in power. They are political agnostics who cow-tow to whomever controls the levers of power. It matters not to them if the country is held by Democrats, Republicans, conservatives or liberals.
Thanks Kym. Great reporting!
Anyone criticizing this should be required to post their amazon transaction history.
This will save energy/fuel and create jobs locally, instead of having the same work done in the Bay Area or even farther. This is in addition to faster delivery.
It is very scary to imagine how many stores will close. We will get a distribution center that we cannot enter, and lose so many stores that we can currently walk into and browse…
hello Amazon, goodbye every other store, 🙁
Until local stores, and even local but corporate (like Michael’s) starts carrying more items, people will still buy from Amazon. It just a fact. Recently searched locally for three different items and could find no one that had them (regardless of price). So what is one to do? Yes I ca find a smaller online retailer and have done tha but may still use Amazon as their distribution.
Was watching PBS news hour last night.. they were discussing about turning warehouses into “detention” centers for ICE activities and how ICE liked the Amazon model “package and ship out.” You know that Amazon warehouse site is right across from the Federal Courthouse and next to airport. Just wondering…. Let’s see how much plumbing is going in. That has been the main problem with the concentration camps they are running in warehouses.