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7A information pertaining to the documentation associated with this part of the Page 3 traffic study is discussed in the EIR Addendum section later in this staff report. o The City's third party analysis of gas station sales volumes resulted in the City adopting a higher sales volume estimate, validating the public concern that the original estimate provided by Costco was too low. The air quality analysis was analyzed based on the higher sales volume and continues to conclude that emissions will be well below applicable public health threshold standards. The traffic study was not adjusted because it already accounted for traffic associated with higher volume gas stations. o Potential impacts to neighborhood streets were considered in both the near and long-term analyses. Because the project includes improvements to Middlefield Road, and especially the intersection of Middlefield and Woodside Roads, the local roadway system will accommodate the increased traffic volumes associated with the Costco project and thus mitigate increased delay. Because delay will not increase, the incentive to "cut through" on side streets is not expected to be any more significant than it is now. The Redwood Viilage Neighborhood has been given the opportunity to work with the City to develop a traffic calming program to address their concerns about existing traffic on their residential streets; although they have not yet indicated interest, this option remains available to this area. . Alternative Analysis: The Century 12 site on East Bayshore Road was used as an alternative site in the EIR. It was selected for a number of reasons: 1. "Big box" retail was considered as an alternate land use for this site in the Bayside Gardens EIR and was shown to be viable from an environmental perspective. 2. The site is one of few in the City with appropriate zoning and adequate site area for "Big box" retail. 3. At the time that the Century 12 property 'vvas selected as a viable option for an alternate site, the City was not yet in negotiations for the autoplex proposal. That particular option for this site is still not concluded at this time, so consideration of an alternative use is appropriate within the CEQA context. Lead Agencies are not required to consider an alternate site in EIRs; thus, this analysis is one of many additional efforts that were made to thoroughly assess the proposed project. . Social Justice: The technical response associated with the City's responsibility to evaluate projects based on social justice is detailed in Attachment 2. The CEQA analysis considered potential gas station closures. The ultimate conclusion is that the proposed Costco project will not result in any significant impacts on the environment that cannot be mitigated to a less than significant level. This is a favorable outcome and contrasts with projects in other parts of the City, past and present, where statements of overriding consideration have been made due to the identification of significant unavoidable environmental impacts. Aside from this conclusion, the public record associated with the issue of social justice must acknowledge some of the City's current efforts in and around this part of Redwood City. The City has sought and been awarded a grant to study