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A SMALLER PROJECT COULD SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE MANY IMPACTS This is a fragile site on a subsiding, capped and unlined dump, surrounded on three sides by the rich ecosystems of a wildlife refuge, and on the fourth side by existing residential neighborhoods. Further reduction of the project’s overall size could have the following beneficial effects. ● Reducing destructive penetrations of the landfill cap and the landfill from pile driving and limiting potential migration of toxics into the adjacent refuge habitat ● Reducing the need for 7 to 14 feet of weight of added fill on the fragile landfill cap, by reducing below-grade parking ● Reducing the number of tall buildings, which would allow these to be set back farther from the shoreline, minimizing shadows on the refuge and night lighting that disturbs night-foraging wildlife ● Reducing nuisance of construction noise and dust for residential neighbors ● Increasing potential for a wider shoreline buffer zone for sea level rise resilience flexibility over the next 75 years ● Reducing the number of employees, which would help reduce traffic impacts on local roads ● Reducing the number of parking spaces required, which in turn would result in fewer or smaller parking structures ● Reducing the number of development phases, and potentially shortening the overall 25-year construction timeline. SHORTENING THE 25-YEAR PHASED BUILDOUT COULD REDUCE THE NEED FOR EXPENSIVE INTERIM FLOOD PROTECTION MEASURES WHILE ALSO REDUCING CONSTRUCTION IMPACTS. In the 75-year life of the proposed development, given a 25-year planning window plus the 50-year average building life, the sea level is projected to rise by 3 feet or more, according to the official estimates of the California Ocean Protection Council.8 Delaying full buildout until 2050 dramatically increases the risk that the site could face inundation and the buildings become stranded liabilities for the City before the end of their useful life. Protecting these buildings through the end of the century will likely require significant, ongoing taxpayer investment in additional defensive measures. A DETAILED ANALYSIS AND UPDATED SURVEY OF THE LANDFILL IS ESSENTIAL. The proposed development is located on a deteriorating former dump site adjacent to the sensitive Redwood Shores Ecological Reserve. A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment done in 2018 by Ramboll US Corporation found that “The historical use of the site as a landfill, coupled with the existing groundwater and leachate contamination, methane and other potential vapor intrusion concerns, and the continued subsidence issues resulting in necessary upgrades to the LFG 8 California Ocean Protection Council State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance: 2024 sierraclub.org/loma-prieta ~ 3921 East Bayshore Road, Suite 204, Palo Alto, CA 94303 5