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Findings and Statements Required by the California Environmental Quality Act
<br />Redwood City DTPP Plan-Wide Amendments 58 ESA / 202100421.01
<br />Subsequent Environmental Impact Report May 2023
<br />expansive soil, and potentially disturb paleontological resources to the same or a similar degree as
<br />would be the case with the proposed DTPP Plan-Wide Amendments. Likewise, the Altered Land
<br />Use Mix Alternative could result in the same or similar disturbance of nesting birds and removal
<br />of trees that could result from construction of subsequent development projects in the amended
<br />DTPP area, and could result in new shading affecting shadow-sensitive uses. Finally, this
<br />alternative could, like the proposed DTPP Plan-Wide Amendments, result in the same or similar
<br />development on potentially expansive or corrosive soils. Each of these impacts—Impact AE-5,
<br />CR-2, CR-4, BIO-1, BIO-2, BIO-3, BIO-4, BIO-5, GEO-4, and GEO-6—would be less than
<br />significant with mitigation under the Altered Land Use Mix Alternative, as would be the case with
<br />the proposed DTPP Plan-Wide Amendments.
<br />Like the DTPP Plan-Wide Amendments, the Altered Land Use Mix Alternative could
<br />develop projects in place of, or adjacent to, eligible historic structures. As a result, adverse impacts
<br />to historic structures could occur and Mitigation Measure CR-1 would be required to preliminarily
<br />determine whether or not the project may have a potentially significant adverse effect on the historic
<br />resource, while Mitigation Measure CR-2 would still be required to review proposed development
<br />adjacent to a historic resource to determine whether such development could adversely affect an
<br />adjacent historic resource. Further, Mitigation Measure NO-3 would be required to reduce ground-
<br />borne vibration levels, which primarily occurs during construction. While these mitigation
<br />measures would reduce the severity of impacts to historic structures, they would not necessarily
<br />reduce the impacts to a less-than-significant level, and Impacts CR-1 and C-CR-1 would remain
<br />significant and unavoidable, as with the DTPP Plan-Wide Amendments.
<br />As discussed above, on the whole, due to the overall reduced scale of development, this
<br />alternative would result in a decrease in significant environmental impacts, compared to those of the
<br />proposed DTPP Plan-Wide Amendments, although the decrease would be less than that with the
<br />Reduced Development Alternative. However, and similar to the Reduced Development Alternative,
<br />the Altered Land Use Mix Alternative would not avoid the significant and unavoidable cultural
<br />(historical) resources, air quality, and climate change impacts of the proposed DTPP Plan-Wide
<br />Amendments. Moreover, the Altered Land Use Alternative, like the Reduced Development
<br />Alternative, would result in a new significant (but mitigable) impact with respect to vehicle miles
<br />traveled per office employee. In addition, and also in common with the Reduced Development
<br />Alternative, to the extent that the demand for additional developed space that would otherwise be
<br />built pursuant to the proposed project would be met elsewhere in the Bay Area, employees in and
<br />residents of such development could potentially generate greater impacts on transportation systems
<br />(including VMT), air quality, and greenhouse gases than would be the case for development on the
<br />more compact and better-served-by-transit project site. This would be particularly likely for
<br />development in more outlying parts of the region where fewer services and less transit access is
<br />provided. It is acknowledged that the Altered Land Use Mix Alternative, like the Reduced
<br />Development Alternative, would incrementally reduce local impacts in and around the project site
<br />and in Downtown Redwood City, while potentially increasing regional emissions of criteria air
<br />pollutants and greenhouse gases, as well as regional traffic congestion. Further to the extent that the
<br />demand for additional residential units, in particular, would be met through single-family homes
<br />rather than the multi-family housing assumed within the amended DTPP area, the Altered Land Use
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