At November’s end, the Arcata Planning Commission will hold a public hearing about the proposed student housing complex and will be taking recommendations to the City Council. According to Arcata Senior Planner Alyson Hunter, outside of Humboldt State University, the proposed development would be the largest housing project in Arcata history.

Arcata residents were notified last week that the public hearing will take place on Nov. 28. Hunter said they will be taking account the concerns and community voices to the project. The Village, a student housing project first proposed in November of 2015 by a partnered company based out of Monterey, will be a quartet of four-story buildings at 2715-2905 St. Louis Road raising 50 feet tall spreading over 11 acres of land with a total of 800 beds , according to Arcata’s notice and the project’s Environmental Impact Report.

“It’s a slam dunk by no means and it will require a lot of discussion,” Hunter said.

On Nov. 1, a draft of the project’s Environmental Impact Report began circulating through state agencies, Hunter said. According to the drafted report, the proposed site currently contains “two single-family residences” and would also take over the Craftsman Mall from the current owner. Hunter said the only opposing concerns she has heard are of aesthetics of the development as well as traffic impacts since it falls in a busy area near HSU and Highway 101 ramps.

“Parking in the vicinity around campus is already impacted,” Hunter said.

The current zoning of the land is deemed industrial limited and would have to be changed to residential by the Arcata City Council. The site proposal was originally brought on by a Monterey-based company called Coleraine Capital Group, Inc., which is the development partner of a Southern California company called AMCAL, according to Jennifer Gordon, an AMCAL spokesperson.

“AMCAL is purchasing a residential property as part of the land assembly from the owner-occupier of that property,” Gordon wrote in an email to the Times-Standard.

Hunter said AMCAL has built successful student housing projects in college towns similar to Arcata. According to the company, “The Village” will also offer a wide arrange of community events as well as a gym, cafe and outdoor courts.

“Construction is expected to start in October 2018 and will be completed by July 2020. The Village will create many hundreds of temporary construction jobs and many permanent operational jobs,” Stephen Clarke, senior director of Market Rate & Student Housing for AMCAL Equities, wrote in a statement released Friday afternoon.

Humboldt State University is not partnered with the company although the school “encourages” more student housing and administration have spoken with the developers when they requested information from the school, according to HSU Associated Vice President Frank Whitlatch.

“HSU’s perspective is that we encourage development of affordable, quality student housing near campus to support student success. We’re happy to work with developers and others to explain the needs of our students and to seek creative solutions for their housing,” Whitlatch wrote to the Times-Standard.

The project seems to be picking up speed, AMCAL projected to complete the housing development by 2019, but Hunter said that time line is a pretty optimistic goal for the company. She said the goal, for the company, is to hire local workers although it may prove to be difficult with limited large scale commercial contractors in the area.

The first public hearing is at the end of November, but Hunter said there will likely need to be two or three more, depending on how residents react to the proposed development. In 2015, Arcata released a staff report which outlined some issues of concern, including the fact that the property is near wetlands that are within the 100-year flood zone.

Sam Armanino can be reached at 707-441-0509.