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7A pedestrian access improvements in this area with an emphasis on providing safe Page 4 and convenient mobility across Woodside Road. Currently, staff is reviewing proposals from qualified consultants who will help the City with this effort. The process will include significant public involvement in the analysis of the problems and potential solutions for this challenging situation. The City is also working on street design improvements on Middlefield Road west of the Costco site between Woodside Road and Maple Street. These improvements should result in better pedestrian and bicycle access as well as beautification along this stretch of Middlefield Road. The Costco project itself includes pedestrian enhancements in the project vicinity as a result of staff direction. The design includes improvements to the pedestrian realm via safer sidewalks; two new signalized crosswalks across Middlefield Road; an upgraded bus stop; and an opportunity for a future transition to bike lanes on Middlefield Road, introduced through the provision of wide striped shoulders on both sides of the street. A mitigation measure addressing increased traffic on Willow Street requires Costco to commit fair share financial support to the design and construction of street improvements (including sidewalks) there. If this project moves forward, staff will seek Council's approval for the remaining funds required so that this improvement can be implemented in the near term. Overall, City staff understands that the concerns about the gas station are a serious issue for this community and in response there has been a conscientious effort on behalf of the public review process to provide unbiased, accurate and rigorous technical analysis throughout the EIR preparation, review, and certification process (spanning more than 27 months). As an example of this diligence, the traffic study alone has included input from four different traffic engineering groups, one of which is the City Traffic Engineer and another is a peer review consultant hired by the City. Final EIR Comment Letters An important part of the EIR process includes garnering public comments on the Draft EIR. For the Costco Draft EIR, the 45-day public comment period extended from I\IQ""'rY'\he" 8 t^ De"ember 23 ')f'\('\&:: ^ h"'.......ing '''as heir! h" the.. Dlanninl'l (''''rY'\mission I'" velllU I \.\..J \J , L.VVV. r\ .IOCHI I vv I U vy ...1 I I IIIIIII~ '-'VI~III' I on December 5, 2006 to solicit comments in a public hearing format in addition to receiving written letters. The Final EIR was prepared and includes responses to all of these comments along with text revisions to the Draft EIR. CEQA requires that the Final EIR be provided to commenting public agencies at least 10 days prior to certification of the EIR; the Final EIR is not required to be distributed for general public review. Because of the level of interest in the Costco project, however, the City provided a 21-day comment period to agencies. All other members of the public were given notice of the June 19 hearing and availability of the Final EIR a total of 27 days before the hearing date. During this extended notice period several comment letters on the Final EIR were submitted to the City. All the commenters appear to be residents of the Redwood Village Neighborhood. Under CEQA, the City as the Lead Agency is not required to respond to comments received on the Final EIR. However, the City Attorney has advised that it may be appropriate to do so if the Final EIR generates "new" issues not previously addressed or raises criticisms of the responses. The Final EIR comment letters were provided as an attachment to the Planning Commission/Zoning Administrator staff report for the June 19 hearing, and responses to some of the Final EIR comments were provided in the staff presentation at that meeting. The transcript of