The Humboldt County Planning Commission voted to recommend that the Board of Supervisors adopt an inland and coastal employee housing ordinance, after staff outlined definitions and development standards for agricultural and other employee housing and commissioners approved two substantive changes requested during the hearing.

Planning staffer Augustus Groschaw, Department of Planning and Building, told the commission the draft divides employee housing into linked and unlinked types and further into small-scale and large-scale categories, and described proposed objective development standards for ministerial review. "Employee housing is any portion of any housing accommodation or property upon which a housing accommodation is located," Groschaw said, and he described requirements for potable water, plumbing, wastewater and electricity.

The commission’s recommended changes came after questions about minimum potable water and unit sizes. Commissioner Lorna McFarland moved — and Commissioner Sarah West seconded — a resolution that would: (1) change the draft potable water design standard from 35 gallons per person per day to 42 gallons per person per day; and (2) change the proposed per‑household minimum living space from 500 square feet for one occupant to a minimum of 350 square feet (up to 400 square feet at staff discretion) and to require 150 square feet of additional living area per additional occupant (up to 200 square feet at staff discretion). The motion passed on a voice vote with no recorded opposition.

Why it matters: the ordinance rewrites how Humboldt County classifies and permits employee housing tied to agricultural and other employers. It clarifies that small-scale employee housing (serving five to six employees) will be treated like single-family residential for permitting while large-scale housing may be permitted as agricultural uses. The rules include objective, ministerial standards the county says are required by state housing element implementation measures.

Key details from staff and the commission:
- Types and thresholds: small-scale employee housing is defined to serve five to six employees and is equivalent to single-family residential for permitting; large-scale employee housing may serve up to 36 beds or 12 single-family‑style units.
- Eligible agricultural employee housing developments: the draft allows a specialized category of developments that can serve up to 36 units and requires operation by a qualified affordable housing organization in many circumstances.
- Development standards discussed by staff: parking matched to residential parking codes or one space per unit (whichever is less); potable water (staff originally proposed 35 gallons per person per day and noted the number came from a separate state code but was flexible); functional indoor plumbing and either on-site wastewater treatment or public sewer; ‘‘sufficient and consistent electricity’’ (staff described a benchmark of about 20 kilowatt‑hours per day as an estimate); and living space guidelines (staff proposed 500 square feet per household with 250 square feet per additional person, but commissioners sought lower minimums and smaller per‑person increments).
- Commission direction: commissioners asked staff to refine the potable water and square‑footage numbers and returned discretion to staff to ‘‘ground truth’’ those minimums before the ordinance goes to the Board of Supervisors.

Next steps: the commission’s resolution recommends the Board of Supervisors adopt the inland and coastal employee housing ordinances with the two changes adopted by the commission (42 gallons per person per day potable water minimum; 350–400 sq. ft. minimum for one occupant with 150 sq. ft. for each additional occupant, staff discretion up to stated caps). Staff said it will take the revised draft and the commission’s direction forward to the board for final action.

Speakers quoted in this article are identified from the hearing record of the Humboldt County Planning Commission public hearing on the draft employee housing ordinance.