AgdaPkt 2009-03-23 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7A Page 1 R'..,....' E.......P' ..'..0..'.. R"".T"" .: '. ", . '.' ......'. . ." . .... '. .' . .' l . ' . .... . ~ ....~.. . ,. . . . . .,' " . . " .... :. . " " . To the. Hon()tabte =::dQ~:M~:~ March 23, 2009 INFORMATION ONLY SUBJECT General Plan Status Report BACKGROUND Staff/consultant team continues to make substantial progress on the New General Plan since the last General Plan update presented to City Council in November, 2008. Specifically, the New General Plan team together with the Planning Commission have affirmed the proposed land use map for the New General Plan ("The Project") and alternatives; begun to write portions of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR); and have written and reviewed the Administrative Draft Housing Element. Staff will continue to draft and review sections of the EIR and the Housing Element with the help of the entire Community Development Services Department. More details of the work are presented below for both the Environmental Impact and New General Plan documents. Environmental Impact Report . Notice of Preparation. The Notice of Preparation (NOP) is a document required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that formally announces that the City will prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the New General Plan, and requests comments on the scope and content of the EIR. The NOP is sent to various public agencies and interested parties and organizations. The NOP comment period was held from February 10 to March 12. Copies of the received NOP correspondence are located in the City Clerk's office for review. In addition to the NOP being sent out, the Planning Commission held a public Ilscoping" session on February 17 to take public testimony on the NOP. Comments from this meeting were forwarded to the General Plan consultants. . Setting Discussion. The General Plan consultant has written various '(setting" discussions for the EIR. The setting sections describe the existing context and background material for all the proposed elements or topics (such as housing, population, noise, geology, utilities, urban design, aesthetics, etc.). Staff is currently reviewing these documents and will be finalizing them within several weeks. . EJR Alternatives. CEQA requires Ilproject alternatives" in the EIR so as to provide decision makers with alternative project choices that mitigate one or more significant impacts of the project while still attaining most of the basic objectives of the actual project. Although a project alternative would not necessarily become the preferred project, it is still a part of the EIR discussion and evaluation, and requires some analysis (although not to the extent of "The Project" itself). Staff is considering three alternatives in the EIR in addition to the "The Project" land use map that was recently affirmed by the Planning Commission and City Council. These alternatives are "No project"; Reduced Build-out; and "Sustainable Streetcar Neighborhoods", The Planning Commission will review and consider these alternatives on March 17.