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

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ii. The City Followed CEQA with Respect to Determining Whether an EIR Is Required for the Project, including Pursuant to (1) CEQA Guidelines Section 15168, (2) CEQA Guidelines Sections 15162 and 15163, and (3) CEQA Guidelines Section 15183. After a city approves an EIR for a comprehensive land use plan like the DTPP, the city shall consider whether further environmental review is required with respect to subsequent discretionary decisions on particular projects that implement the underlying plan. Whether a supplemental EIR or other environmental document must be prepared depends upon the analysis of the subsequent activity in light of the existing EIR. The City performed this analysis, which ultimately shows that further environmental review is not required. Three sets of interrelated provisions of the CEQA Guidelines demonstrates why the Project does not require further environmental review. First, CEQA Guidelines section 15168(c) provides that if the City has already prepared an EIR for a comprehensive land use plan such as the DTPP, unless the subsequent activities would create new significant impacts or require new mitigation measures, as analyzed under CEQA Guidelines section 15162, the City may find that the Project is within the scope of the EIR. Second, CEQA Guidelines sections 15162 and 15163 provide that the City shall not prepare another EIR unless the City determines, on the basis of substantial evidence, that certain conditions exist that will lead to a new significant impact or substantial increase in the severity of a previously identified impact, or that a new or previously rejected mitigation measure or alternative would substantially reduce significant effects. Third, CEQA Guidelines section 15183 provides that if the City has prepared an EIR for a zoning plan (like the DTPP), the City shall not prepare another EIR “except as may be necessary to examine whether there are project-specific significant impacts which are peculiar to the project or its siteU.” The City followed these three sets of provisions. The City prepared a written checklist (i.e., the Initial Study) to evaluate the site-specific Project in light of the DTPP EIR. The City analyzed whether the Project would create new significant impacts or substantial increases in the severity of previously identified significant impacts, or whether a new mitigation measure or alternative would substantially reduce significant effects. No such impacts were identified. Nor is any new mitigation measure or alternative required to substantially reduce any significant impact. Thus, an additional EIR is not required. 7.A. - Page 20