In a settlement reached earlier this month, the California Coastal Commission approved the transfer of a property in Humboldt County with a history of permit violations to Wiyot-area tribes.
Developer Travis Schneider had run up a long list of infractions since beginning construction of his home near Humboldt Bay in 2018. Although planners approved an 8,000 square-foot residence, Schneider’s property grew to over 21,000 square feet. A section of the home encroached onto a protected wetland buffer area, and an unauthorized road removed native vegetation.
The county issued a stop-work order in 2021 after becoming aware of the violations, but construction continued.
The land near the site of a historic Wiyot village is culturally important to area tribes, including Blue Lake Rancheria, the Wiyot Tribe, and the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria.
“There is no other known or similar site in the Humboldt Bay region that contains such uniquely well-preserved cultural materials,” a California Coastal Commission report stated.
The commission declined to disclose the location or nature of those cultural materials, citing their sensitive nature.
“When the tribe and others alerted the county to the violations, we were met with public displays of racism, threats, accusations — called liars,” Wiyot Tribal Administrator Michelle Vassel said during a commission meeting.
After years of negotiation, the commission reached a settlement with Schneider on Feb. 4, ordering the property's transfer to the three Wiyot tribes.
Commission member Caryl Hart celebrated the decision.
“You want to talk about environmental justice, there is no more just result than the one here,” she said.
Schneider must also pay a $400,000 fine and restore the land to its previous condition and fund tribal monitors to observe the process.
“I do feel a sense of, frankly, joy about the outcome,” said commission chair Meagan Harmon.
While Schneider’s attorney, Brad Johnson, supported the agreement, he pushed back against some of the characterizations made during the commission meeting on the settlement. He noted that an archeologist visited the site and produced a report for local planners and tribes.
“Their report is unequivocal... that the activity did not result in the destruction of any cultural resources on the site and did not result in the destruction of the site's ability to convey cultural significance,” Johnson said.
He noted that the home’s increase in square footage was due to a second level, with the property's footprint remaining the same as approved.
Johnson also alleged there was no evidence that the construction destroyed protected wetlands.
“In fact, the house is constructed on the site of a former quarry that had been excavated to provide fill material for an auto mall,” he said.
Schneider has two months to begin the process of transferring the land to a tribal-run nonprofit.
