Pass: 5,942 / 68.80% Yes votes ...... 2,695 / 31.20% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Impartial Analysis from City Attorney

Impartial Analysis by the City Attorney, City of Eureka

If approved by majority of the voters, Measure N would:

1) Amend the City's Local Coast Program to:

a) Change the General Plan and Zoning Designations to those necessary for the "Marina Center Development" proposed on the "Balloon Track", approximately 43 acres generally bounded by Waterfront Drive to the north and west, Washington Street to the south, and Broadway (Highway 101) to the east;

b) Add a zoning overlay "Qualified Combining District" to restrict uses to those that cause no more or more intense environmental impacts than those already examined in "Marina Center Mixed Use Development Project Environmental Impact Report", which analyzed the potential impacts of 313,500 square feet (sf) of retail space, 104,000 sf office space, 72,000 sf multi-family residential housing (54 dwelling units), 70,000 sf light industrial space, 14,000 sf restaurant space, 12,500 sf museum space, 1590 parking spaces, and 11.89-acre wetland reserve;

c) The Qualified Combining District would prohibit "Discount Superstores" on the property. "Discount superstore" means a discount retail store that: also contains a full service grocery department under the same roof that shares entrances and exits with the discount store area; exceeds one hundred thousand (100,00) square feet of gross floor area; and devotes at least five (5%) percent of the total sales floor area to the sale of non-taxable merchandise. "Sales floor area" means only interior building space devoted to the sale of merchandise, and does not include restrooms, office space, storage space, automobile service areas, or open-air garden sales space. "Nontaxable merchandise" means products, commodities, or items the sale of which is not subject to California State sales tax. These stores usually offer a variety of customer services, centralized cashing and a wide range of products and maintain long store hours seven (7) days a week. The stores are often the only ones on the site, but can be found in mutual operation with a related or unrelated garden center or service station.

2) If the voters pass this Measure, the Coastal Act requires that the Local Coastal Program (LCP) Amendments be certified by the California Coast Commission prior to the amendments taking effect. If the Coastal Commission denies certification, the amendments would not take effect and there would be no change to the current General Plan and Zoning Designations.

3) The General Plan and Zoning Designation changes described in part (1)(a) above, may only be amended by simple majority vote of the voters of the City of Eureka.

4) Ten years after certification by the Coastal Commission the City Council may remove all or part of the "Qualified Combining District" overlay described in parts (1)(b) and (1)(c) above without further vote of the people, so long as the City complies with the California Environmental Quality Act before approving any such amendment. If the City Council removes the "Qualified Combining District" overlay, the General Plan and Zoning Designations as described in part (1)(a) above would not change.

A YES vote approves the Measure

A NO vote rejects the Measure

The above statement is an impartial analysis of Measure N. If you desire a copy of the ordinance, please call the elections official's office at (707) 441-4144 and a copy will be mailed at no cost to you.

Sheryl Schaffner City Attorney, City of Eureka

Full text of Proposed Measure PDF (9.9 MB Large File)

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