Merging tracks on the millsite
Last week Fort Bragg city councilmembers Albin-Smith and Peters asked Mendocino Railway to “get on board” with local permitting. This is a surprising request given that Mendocino Railway has been doing exactly that since 2019, following its purchase of the northern portion of the millsite, until the city abandoned its development process in January 2021 and told us to create our own plan.
We did as requested, meeting with the city ten times in 2021 while also focusing — with city approval — on acquiring millsite south. In May, after we told the city we had reached a deal with GP, the city suddenly and without explanation ceased all communications with us and, apparently, tried to take our deal with GP for itself, forcing us to file our eminent domain action to ensure we simply had a seat at the table. But GP’s discussion with the city went nowhere, and GP contacted us in October to tell us that their discussions with the city had ended and asking how we could close our original deal. As settling the eminent domain action was easier than closing the deal via a purchase and sale agreement, that is what we did.
Unbeknownst to us, the city — which for some reason ignored our eminent domain action — in October filed a lawsuit challenging our public utility status. And the city then in November, after learning we had closed our original deal with GP, sought out of pure spite to block a $21 million loan we seek to improve our railroad with more ties, to improve bridge safety, and to reopen Tunnel #1 (improvements the council bizarrely claims to still support today despite its efforts to prevent us from making them). Councilmembers have also made knowingly false claims about us in meetings and in the press that have caused enormous harm not just to our company but also to the many local residents and businesses who depend on us, at least in part, for their livelihoods. The council — without reason — questions whether we will abide by local development regulations and CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act). This is despite our consistent statements over many years that we always do our best to follow all applicable laws and will continue to do so. We submitted our proposed plan for the 77-acre millsite north for city approval within three months of purchasing that property. We agreed that the housing, hotel, commercial, and light industrial elements the city wanted built were all subject to local regulation. And we also set aside 40% of the property as open space and parks, not to mention the extensive setbacks from the Coastal Trail. The city knows we are in our third year working with the Department of Toxic Substance Control on environmental remediation of the property, despite not having caused any of the contamination ourselves. We planned to work just as closely with the city and environmental regulators as to millsite south.
Anyone who has walked the city’s beautiful Coastal Trail can see the unique opportunity presented by the millsite. Ideally, we should work together with the city on a plan that builds upon our community’s strong working-town history, our hospitality and tourism industry, and our potential to attract high-paying technology, green energy, healthcare, and blue economy jobs. And though the millsite is a brownfield that needs redevelopment, we can’t lose sight of the fact that it borders an amazing environmental gem that needs protection. Nor can we lose sight of the need to retain Fort Bragg’s identity and authenticity.
We need to work together with local agencies to achieve these goals, to develop a vision that everyone can support. But the city has refused to speak with us, preferring to hold closed-door meetings while making knowingly false claims about us in public. We thus welcome councilmembers AlbinSmith’s and Peters’ interest in moving forward in a more productive manner and will gladly meet with them if they are willing.
Rail switches merge parallel train tracks into one, serving as a good metaphor for our relationship with the city. Currently, we seem to be heading in a similar direction but on separate tracks. But we share the common goal of ensuring that millsite development provides the maximum opportunities and benefits for our community so I’m hopeful we can find a switch that will bring us onto the same track.
I look forward to a time when the rest of the council joins councilmembers AlbinSmith and Peters in seeking to work towards a more promising future together.
Ideally, we should work together with the city on a plan that builds upon our community’s strong workingtown history, our hospitality and tourism industry, and our potential to attract high-paying technology, green energy, healthcare, and blue economy jobs.