Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Saltworks Proposal- Transportation Group Summary Report (22 January 2010) <br /> <br />7A - ATTACHMENT NO.4 <br />Page 8 <br /> <br />CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />1.1 PURPOSE OF REPORT <br /> <br />This report presents the results of a "Tier One" analysis of the transportation and circulation sections of the <br />Application and Statement of Justification (SOJ) for the OMB Redwood City Saltworks SO/50 Balanced Plan. The <br />review was conducted by Fehr & Peers with assistance from Shiels Obletz Johnsen. The main purpose of the <br />analysis was to determine if the information provided in the Application and SOJ were sufficient for further <br />processing of the application, including a CEQA analysis. Specifically, the review focused on: <br /> <br />. Whether the plan's proposed transportation facilities could feasibly accommodate the on-site (or <br />internal) traffic, pedestrian, bicycling, and transit needs of the residents, employees, and visitors; <br /> <br />. Whether the plan's proposed transportation facilities provide sufficient and feasible connections to <br />the surrounding transportation system; and <br /> <br />. An assessment of the general effects that the project would have on the surrounding local and <br />regional transportation network. <br /> <br />Another element of the review was to evaluate the project as it relates to the City's Transportation and Circulation <br />Goals and Policies to determine if there are any conflicts. <br /> <br />The City has broad authority to decide whether to approve, modify, or disapprove the application. For the project <br />to proceed, the City must amend the Land Use element of its new Draft General Plan to authorize the uses <br />proposed by OMB. In exercising its discretion regarding whether to amend its new Draft General Plan, the City is <br />relying on its basic police power and, as such, is acting with maximum range of discretion. <br /> <br />1.2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION <br /> <br />OMB Redwood City Saltworks (OMB) proposes to develop a +/- 1436-acre site located north of US 101 and east <br />of Seaport Boulevard in the City of Redwood City. The site is currently used as an industrial salt-harvesting <br />facility and consists largely of salt ponds. OMB's proposal, called the "SO/50 Balanced Plan," would convert <br />roughly half of the site into a mixed-use residential community. The remaining area would be devoted to various <br />open-space uses, with approximately 400 acres of restored tidal marsh. <br /> <br />The proposed mixed-use development would consist of between 8,000 to 12,000 residential units, 1,000,000 <br />square feet of commercial office space, and 140,000 square feet of supporting neighborhood retail uses. The <br />community plan includes four elementary school sites and a middle school site. The Saltworks proposal includes <br />community facilities and recreational uses in the form of open space and sports fields. For the Tier One analysis <br />of the transportation and circulation sections, it was assumed that the project included the maximum level of <br />12,000 residential units. <br /> <br />In addition to the land uses described above, several other key transportation-related factors were considered in <br />this Tier One Issue analysis. These included a proposed permanent transit system that will be integrated into the <br />community transportation network, a transportation management association (TMA) with funding from the <br />development, and an extensive transportation demand management (TOM) program operated by the TMA. One <br />key element of the TOM program would be a parking management program, which would be designed to further <br />reduce the reliance on solo-driver vehicles. <br /> <br />1.3 SCOPE OF ANALYSIS <br /> <br />The analysis was conducted by reviewing the materials originally submitted by OMB to the City of Redwood City <br />in the application, identifying and requesting additional information needed to develop a more thorough <br /> <br />1 <br />