Marina Center Benefits
Environmental Benefits
Marina Center will fund the restoration and preservation of a 10-acre-plus coastal
wetlands preserve on the property at Clark Slough.
Covering nearly a third of the total Balloon Track acreage, the environmental preserve
will include restoration of a major portion of the historic Clark Slough wetlands.
The initiative will add to Eureka’s public access open space and will restore the
area to a natural condition it has not known for 100 years or more.
The effort will remove exotic, non-native vegetation (and a significant amount of
trash and debris) currently dominating the wetlands and adjacent Clark Slough channel
and replace it with a diverse habitat of coastal marsh vegetation. Restoring the
area to historic topographic elevations and replacing non-native vegetation, mostly
Phragmites australis, or “common reed,” with native marsh vegetation will promote
the return of a wide range of water birds to the site.
Public access to Marina Center’s Clark Slough wetlands habitat (currently prohibited
by law) will include a perimeter walkway or boardwalk with a kiosk and interpretive
signage at vantage points along the path pointing out opportunities to see wildlife
or examples of native plants. This pedestrian trail will connect with a pedestrian/bike
trail along the existing railroad right of way, which will in turn connect Marina
Center with downtown Eureka.
Protective environmental buffers will also be a key component of the Clark Slough
preservation initiative. These open spaces, which will surround the Clark Slough
wetlands, will also be planted with native trees and plants and provide protective
screening to native wildlife on the site.
Marina Center facilitates the cleanup and reuse of an urban brownfield and blighted
property.
Community Benefits
As proposed, Marina Center will generate estimated annual property-tax revenues
of more than $900,000, most of which will go to the benefit of the City of Eurekas
Redevelopment Agency and contribute to local affordable housing initiatives. In
addition, the project, as proposed, will provide up to 40 units of residential.
The State of California will contribute its share of the property taxes generated
(more than $450,000 annually) to local school districts.
The City of Eurekas General Fund will receive more than $1 million in annual
sales-tax revenues.
Economic Benefits
Marina Center is estimated to create more than 1,000 jobs on site, including more
than 600 retail jobs, 70 industrial jobs, and 400 office jobs. The project will
also create much needed service-sector jobs (such as security, landscaping, janitorial
and maintenance, etc.) All of these jobs, in turn, will support other local jobs
through the spending of workers' wages.
The Home Depot will hire locally for hundreds of full-time and part-time workers,
all of whom will be eligible for the company’s industry-leading wage and benefits
packages.
Land-use Benefits
Marina Center discourages sprawl by promoting infill development and new growth
in an already urbanized area. Infill promotes air quality by siting a new development
within an existing community, while greenfield development, which occurs on the
fringe of a community, promotes sprawl.
Development of the Balloon Track will revive it as a contributing and useful part
of the community, resulting in a boost for the local economy and revitalization
of the area south of Old Town.
Marina Center will mix land uses by clustering development and including a combination
of retail, office, industrial, and affordable residential bringing a new
vibrancy to this part of Eureka.
Currently, the Wharfinger Building and Small Boat Basin areas are isolated from
the Old Town and Boardwalk areas. Development of the Balloon Track would create
a link between these two community assets.
Pedestrians will be able to access Marina Center by a pedestrian trail that connects
with a pedestrian / bike trail parallel to the existing railroad right-of-way, which
connects the site to the marina area.
Site development of the Balloon Track would deter current unauthorized use of the
property as a temporary encampment area by the homeless. This is a drain on police
and fire departments (and public funding) due to related emergency and nuisance
calls.
|