AgdaPkt 2015-09-28 Joint SA PFA - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

III. The City Complied with CEQA and No Further Environmental Analysis is Required. Appellants also contend that the City must prepare an EIR for the Project and/or that the Project violates provisions of the 2011 Environmental Impact Report for the Downtown Precise Plan (DTPP EIR). In the two subsections below, City staff (a) summarize how the City’s environmental review processes complied with CEQA and (b) explain why Appellants’ contentions that the City must prepare an EIR lack merit. (For a more detailed discussion regarding the DTPP EIR, CEQA provisions governing environmental review of the Project, and the bases which support the determination that another EIR is not required, see the CEQA Background and Analysis Memorandum.) a. The City’s Environmental Review Complied with CEQA. In the two subsections below, staff summarize how the City complied with CEQA. i. Summary of the CEQA Process Undertaken for the DTPP EIR. The DTPP EIR analyzed the potentially significant impacts associated with buildout of the larger downtown area (approximately 183 acres) pursuant to the Downtown Precise Plan, including office buildings such as the subject Project. Pursuant to the DTPP EIR and the Mitigation, Monitoring and Reporting Program, the City Council adopted all feasible mitigation measures to mitigate impacts that would otherwise be significant. However, mitigation of some impacts was not feasible. The City Council adopted a Statement of Overriding Considerations, finding that the significant and unavoidable impacts of implementation of the DTPP are outweighed by the benefits of the DTPP. The benefits identified by the City Council include promoting sustainable growth, fostering work and leisure activities in the downtown, promoting development that preserves historic resources, reducing suburban sprawl and enhancing economic development. The DTPP EIR explained that the analysis of some potential impacts stemming from the DTPP were speculative at that time, and therefore that the City would subsequently consider whether a particular development project might cause a significant impact that would require further environmental review. The next section explains how the City undertook this analysis with respect to the Project. 7.A. - Page 19