Administrator approves after‑the‑fact permit to authorize restoration of historic Kelly Pond with archaeological conditions

MENDOCINO COUNTY — The Mendocino County Coastal Permit Administrator on April 9 approved coastal development permit CDP 2025-000026 to authorize after‑the‑fact grading and restoration work on the historic Kelly Pond at 45507 Albian Street in the Town of Mendocino, subject to the staff‑recommended conditions and archaeological safeguards.

Jesse Waldman, planning staff, said the project would authorize excavation done in 2015 to clean and restore the pond, the installation of a high‑density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane liner, and landscaping consistent with the Mendocino Town historical preservation district. The parcel (APN 11923817) lies in Zone A of the Mendocino Town Plan historical preservation district; the Kelly House (constructed 1861) and the Kelly Pond (constructed circa 1880) are identified as historic resources in the town plan.

Waldman told the administrator that the county had been monitoring the site since a 2015 code‑enforcement complaint for grading without permits; a building permit application (BF 2015847) was filed in 2015 but has not been issued pending the coastal development permit. He described the CDP as step two of three: (1) Mendocino Historical Review Board approval (MHRB permit 2024-00006, approved May 5, 2025); (2) the CDP now under consideration; and (3) issuance of the grading/building permit once the CDP is granted.

Staff reported that an archaeological survey submitted in 2015 was accepted by the Mendocino County Archaeological Commission on June 10, 2024, and that the project includes a discovery clause condition (condition 8) and other standard coastal conditions (condition 9) as well as condition 10 requiring the applicant to obtain the needed building/grading permit and resolve the 2015 code enforcement case.

Waldman also said the project was referred to agencies and that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife supported the proposed landscaping plan and raised no additional recommendations.

Valerie Stanley, speaking for the Sherwood Valley Tribe in the record, said the Kelly Pond area is culturally rich and that while the tribe was not requesting archaeological monitoring at this time given the archaeologist’s findings, monitoring should be considered for future work. Stanley said she would provide a most‑likely‑descendant letter for the file.

The Coastal Permit Administrator closed public comment, agreed with staff that the project met the cited categorical CEQA exemptions (Class 1 §15301; Class 4 §15304; Class 31 §15331), and approved CDP 2025-000026 subject to the staff report’s findings and conditions, including the discovery clause and the requirement that the applicant secure the outstanding building/grading permit before additional disturbance. The administrator noted the approval would help resolve the long‑standing case when permits and code enforcement conditions are completed.

Next steps: the applicant must obtain the required grading/building permit and comply with the archaeological discovery clause and other conditions. The Sherwood Valley Tribe has indicated it will submit additional documentation (a most‑likely‑descendant letter) for the record.