Reso23-14 Reso 0048 PC23-14 PC Reso Recommending Certification of the SEIR GP & DTPP

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Findings and Statements Required by the California Environmental Quality Act Redwood City DTPP Plan-Wide Amendments 2 ESA / 202100421.01 Subsequent Environmental Impact Report May 2023 The DTPP was since amended on September 10, 2012; July 22, 2013; May 23, 2016; and November 18, 2022. III. DTPP Plan-Wide Amendments and Environmental Review The proposed DTPP Plan-Wide Amendments would consist of amendments to the DTPP and the Redwood City General Plan to revise certain DTPP development standards, guidelines and policies, including those regarding permitted or conditionally permitted land use s (including allowing Research and Development Laboratory space as a conditional use); streets and circulation (including pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular circulation; updating the typology of some streets; and potentially eliminating some planned but unbuilt streets); building height and massing (including allowing the development of recreational rooftop structures within existing height limitations); parking; historical resources; and open space. The proposed amendments would also allow for exceptions, at certain sites, to requirements concerning building placement, minimum heights, and stepdown zones. Finally, the amendments would add 80,000 square feet to the maximum office development cap (reserved for small office projects of 20,000 new square feet or less). The City Council will consider making these policy changes in advance of consideration by the City of six so-called “Gatekeeper” development projects to ensure these projects conform to the City’s vision for the development of the Downtown. With the changes, City Council approval would be required for any Large Project requesting a General Plan Amendment;1 such projects would also negotiate Development Agreements. The SEIR also evaluates a potential future northward extension of the DTPP between El Camino Real and the Caltrain tracks and the potential for total new office development up to 1,167,100 square feet and 830 new residential units in the amended DTPP area.2 In the September 2021, pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15063, the City determined that the Project could result in potentially significant environmental impacts and that an EIR would be required. In compliance with Section 21092 of CEQA, the City circulated a Notice of Preparation (“NOP”) of a Draft Subsequent EIR (the “DSEIR”) for the Project to the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) State Clearinghouse and interested agencies and persons on September 14, 2021, for a 30-day review period. The NOP solicited comments regarding the scope of the DSEIR from identified responsible and trustee agencies, as well as interested parties. The DSEIR was published by the City and available for review for a 45-day comment period from November 14, 2022, to December 29, 2022. During the comment period, the interested public and responsible and trustee agencies were invited to submit comments on the DSEIR to the City’s Community Development and Transportation Department. Written and verbal comments on the DSEIR were also accepted at a Planning Commission hearing held on December 6, 2022. The 1 The DTPP defines Large Projects as those with no on-site historical resources (such sites are treated separately) and that meet one of the following: 1) addition to an existing building, on a site larger than 30,000 square feet, of more than 10 percent new floor area; 2) new construction, on a site larger than 30,000 square feet in size; 3) development of a parking structure that is fully or partially exposed to the street on all levels (i.e., not wrapped within the interior of a larger structure); or 4) new construction or building addition exceeding 35 feet or three stories in height, unless the addition is determined to be minor by the Community Development Director or Designee. 2 The analyses in the SEIR refer to the “amended DTPP area” to make it evident that the evaluation of existing conditions and potential project impacts encompasses the DTPP area as it may be expanded northward in the future to accommodate one of the proposed Gatekeeper Project, at 651 El Camino Real.