Thumbnail photo: Don Arambula, of the urban design and architect firm Crandall Arambula, gave councilors an idea of what a master plan for Downtown Crescent City might look like. | Screenshot Crescent City leaders are expanding the scope of a downtown master plan project to include work at Lighthouse Cove RV Park, though the federal grant they’re relying on for the endeavor is currently in limbo. Crescent City was conditionally awarded $186,000 in Economic Development Administration grant dollars, but can’t move forward with the project assuming that it’ll get those funds, City Manager Eric Wier said Monday. However, the city can use its contribution for the EDA grant to proceed with the master plan, Wier said. “If EDA comes through in the next several months as we’re working on that, then our grant match still counts and we just get the EDA funding and we can continue to move forward,” he said. “Worst case scenario is EDA comes back and says, ‘We’re sorry that money’s no longer available.’ At that point in time our grant match doesn’t count as a grant match anymore. It would be us putting forward economic development dollars to pay for phase one.” Crescent City Councilors unanimously approved amending the city’s contract with Portland-based Crandall Arambula despite the uncertainty of their Economic Development Administration grant dollars. Wier said using the city’s own money to do the master plan, even if the EDA grant doesn’t pan out, puts the community in a great position to pursue further funding. “It’s almost like having a shovel-ready type project,” he said. “We’ve done the groundwork. We know what we need. And the next phase would finalize that design and identify true costs.” This amendment will add an analysis on the cost of doing business in Downtown Crescent City as well as planning and design work for Lighthouse Cove to the project scope. The amendment also splits the project into two phases since, with the first being funded through Crescent City’s contribution to the EDA grant. Crescent City’s grant match is $94,000 in California Endowment Economic Resiliency Grant dollars and income from Community Development Block Grant-funded programs, Wier said. City staff plans to use $18,000 from its fiscal year 2025 economic development budget and $22,000 in its 2025-26 fiscal year RV park budget. Staff is also pursuing 2025 CDBG grant dollars. If awarded, Crescent City could receive $159,000, Wier said. But while CDBG staff support the grant, Wier said it still needs to be reviewed. “It’s possible that it could be funded, but they can’t give a definite on when,” he said. Don Arambula, co-founder of Crandall Arambula, the city’s consultant on the project, said the first phase of the master plan will focus getting input from stakeholders and the public. He said he envisioned community workshops and visioning sessions. Crandall Arambula will also work with Johnson Economics and GreenWorks to look at background information, which includes the city’s Economic Development Strategic Action Plan. The consultants will conduct a land-use assessment, looking at building and site inventory and their development potential. GreenWorks will be focused on Downtown Crescent City’s core at 3rd and H streets to address issues like poor sidewalks and crosswalks. Johnson Economics will assess visitor-oriented uses such as retail as well as multi-family housing and lodging opportunities. Suggestions will be broken up into five-year and 10-year projects, he said. “The focus of the initial phase will be this area that we’re calling the hub,” Arambula said. “Its’ generally 4th to Front and from L over past SeaQuake Brewery. Eventually in the second phase, we’ll look at the whole study area for downtown. Both will have an emphasis on these areas where we think we need to get some immediate change.” Arambula said the consultants will consider a range of land-use alternatives and present them to the community. These include improvements to existing uses within the downtown, he said. “The key of this is to come out, as Eric said, with a short list of projects where we can make significant changes in [during] the first five years of plan adoption,” he said. “We don’t want to have what we call silver bullet projects, things that cost a lot, but don’t have a lot of community development.” As for Lighthouse Cove RV Park, Arambula said the goal is to integrate its design with Downtown Crescent City as well as Beachfront Park and the development within the Crescent City Harbor District. Arambula said he anticipates the first phase of the master plan to be completed in three to four months. However, since Crescent City is looking to spend its economic development and RV park budget dollars by June 30, a key component of the market analysis will be finished within 15 to 30 days, Arambula said. Arambula said the analysis, which will also look at land-use, developable parcels and street conditions, will likely be finished by the end of July. “We think that visioning workshops could occur as soon as August, but if timing and things don’t work for the community, it could be as late as September,” he said. “Once we get that information we’ll be able to develop some alternative concepts and that second meeting probably will be in October.” Both City councilors Jason Greenough and Candace Tinkler urged their colleagues to approve the contract amendment with Crandall Arambula. Greenough pointed out that Crescent City had spent more than $600,000 to obtain grand dollars for the Pebble Beach Bank Stabilization Project, “so there is precedent in past action.” Tinkler, who was the former chief of interpretation for Redwood National and State Parks, said it’s important for Crescent City to show that they’re serious about pursuing the Downtown Master Plan. “Whether it’s federal or public funding grants, or even private grants, one of the things they look at is if people asking for grant moneys have stepped up to the plate and are prepared,” she said. “I think this puts us in a position to show we’re serious about this.” Crandall Arambula and GreenWorks Design are also working on Crescent City’s gateway project while GreenWorks Design is the contractor for the Beachfront Park master plan.