A months-long dispute over a stop-work order issued on the construction of a prominent local developer's private home bubbled into public view at the Aug. 18 Humboldt County Planning Commission meeting. From the dais, commission Chair Alan Bongio said he's "lost all trust" in two local tribal governments, while making some far-reaching comments about "Indians" that tribal leaders found "inappropriate" and "offensive."The dispute centers around local developer Travis Schneider's construction of his family home at the end of Walker Point Road near Fay Slough, south of the Indianola Cutoff and east of U.S. Highway 101. Late last year, it was determined the 8,000-square-foot house already under construction has a slightly different footprint than what had been listed on an approved building permit plan, that Schneider had cleared brush in areas deemed ecologically and culturally sensitive, including one identified more than a century ago as a historical Wiyot village site, and cut an unpermitted temporary construction road on the property, all in violation of his coastal development permit.Read More
