The California Coastal Commission is set to hear the City of Eureka’s request to formally toss an abandoned plan to rezone the Balloon Track — the plan that once aimed for the property to become the Home Depot-anchored Marina Center development.In a report, Commission staff recommended the body that regulates land use along the coast finally deny the 2011-era application that would have amended the city’s local coastal plan.The effort, which Eureka voters supported in a 2010 ballot measure, would have rezoned the 43-acre property to support commercial, office, residential and open space uses.But it sat lingering at the Commission, which must approve zoning changes in the coastal area before they can take effect, for nearly 13 years, with the official status sitting at “incomplete and inactive.”The city hopes that if the application is officially denied next week, the path would clear for future planning of the site which hasn’t been in use since the 1980s.The Eureka City Council, with support from property owner Security National, voted to withdraw the Coastal Commission application back in November. Commission staff instead are recommending that it be officially denied, for procedural purposes. The Commission says the proposed changes don’t meet requirements in the Coastal Act.Keep Reading
