Laserfiche WebLink
Findings and Statements Required by the California Environmental Quality Act <br />Harbor View Project PAGE 43 OF 48 ESA / 170951 <br />Final Environmental Impact Report October 2022 <br />ATTY/RESO.0085/PC RESO RECOMMENDING CEQA – EXHIBIT A <br />REV: 11-02-2022 VR <br />Redwood City other than proposed Project site, pursuant to Section 15126.6 of the CEQA <br />Guidelines. The offsite location would be within the Seaport Boulevard corridor or Seaport <br />Centre to the north of the Project site, as well as in Pacific Shores given the lack of feasible <br />sites elsewhere in the City. The “Alternative Site Location” Alternative is hereby rejected <br />from further consideration because it would not reduce or avoid any of the significant <br />effects of the Revised Project. <br />Explanation. Under the “Alternative Site Location” Alternative, development of 765,150 <br />square feet of commercial office use at a different location in or near Redwood City would <br />likely result in similar impacts on other neighborhoods as those identified with the Harbor <br />View Project. The Project site is approximately 27.08 acres adjacent to U.S. 101 and it’s <br />on- /off-ramps. The area surrounding the Project site contains a mix of light industrial, <br />heavy industrial, public facilities, port-related and construction-related commercial uses <br />that are not expected to substantially transition, according to the General Plan. The overall <br />environmental setting in the Seaport Boulevard corridor or Seaport Centre to the north of <br />the Project site, or in Pacific Shores is not substantially different from the Project site <br />conditions. <br />The conservatively significant cumulative air quality impact identified for the Revised <br />Project (Impact AIR-1.CU) (exceeding growth assumptions of the 2017 Clean Air Plan) is <br />assumed to still occur with the “Alternative Site Location” Alternative since the Office <br />land use program is the same for both scenarios. Development in the potential locations <br />would still require the similar amendments to the General Plan Map and Zoning Map to <br />adopt and apply a “Commercial Office Professional /Technology (CP)” land use <br />designation and “Commercial Park (CP)” zoning district, respectively, to the alternative <br />development location. <br />Development of the Project in a nearby alternative location would have similar significant <br />and unavoidable effects on the area intersection and roadway network, since the nearby <br />alternative sites are near and would generate trips affecting Woodside Road (SR84), <br />Highway 101, and the potential Blomquist extension. All transportation impacts, including <br />the numerous significant determinations, would continue to occur with the “Alternative Site <br />Location” Alternative. <br />Site control of a viable alternative site is a key consideration. The Project Applicant is a <br />private developer that controls the proposed Project site and does not own property in any <br />of the aforementioned nearby areas or elsewhere in the City that could accommodate the <br />proposed development, including with the primary recreation and open space element <br />central to the site. <br />As such, this alternative may equally meet each of the objectives of the Harbor View <br />Project. Although the areas considered for the alternative site location are not as centrally <br />located in the area generally delineated as the “Inner Harbor” in the Draft Inner Harbor <br />Specific Plan (City of Redwood City, 2015), it is presumed that the selected property would <br />still allow the internal site orientation and clustered development around recreation or open <br />space amenities, bicycle/pedestrian connections onsite and to Downtown. Overall, because <br />this alternative would not likely reduce or avoid significant impacts of the Revised Project,