AgdaPkt 2010-02-01 clsd and regular

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Saltworks Proposal- Transportation Group Summary Report (22 January 2010) 7A - ATTACHMENT NO.4 Page 14 2.2 KEY ISSUES The following are the keyissues regarding the analysis of the overall regional transportation benefits from the project: 1. City Commitment/Policy Implications of Addressing the Regional Job/Housing Balance - While the City of Redwood City has worked with other agencies in the past to add housing within the county, the Saltworks development represents a substantially larger level of participation by the City in addressing this regional issue. The City would need to consider the local and regional jobs/housing balance as part of the entire Saltworks project, taking into account the policy direction contained in the Housing Element of the new Draft General Plan. 2. Impact of Adding Jobs to a Jobs-Rich Area - The Saltworks proposal includes approximately 1,000,000 square feet of office space. The added jobs associated with this office space may negate some of the regional benefits of the added housing in an existing jobs-rich environment. 3. Travel Demand Forecasting Model - There are two existing travel demand forecasting models for the Saltworks project area. One is the San Mateo County regional model currently maintained by the San Mateo City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG). The other is the Redwood City travel demand model maintained by the City. As currently structured, each of these models would need to be modified, upgraded, and/or expanded to model the Saltworks at both a local and regional level, and to assess the potential effects of transit. Therefore, prior to any regional analysis there would need to be a decision as to the appropriate travel demand model and the needed enhancements for the analysis. There is additional discussion of these models in Chapter 3 regarding preliminary modeling that was performed for the project by the DMB team. 4. Consistency with Recent Statewide Modeling Recommendations - Ongoing activities at the State level related to Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32) and Senate Bill 375 (SB 375) have only recently reached a point of recommending modeling standards for the estimation of GHG. Any modeling for the Saltworks project would need to encompass these recommendations. In addition, there are proposed changes related to the use of models in CEQA analysis that will also affect a new development like the Saltworks project. 5. Alternative Development Locations (Business as Usual) -In order to assess the level of regional reduction in VMT and GHG, it would be necessary to evaluate an alternative where the Saltworks development is not in place and a development or series of development of equivalent housing numbers is provided elsewhere in San Mateo County or the Bay Area. Assumptions regarding where this development would be located should be discussed and coordinated with the City and other local agencies that control land use and future development. 2.3 CONCLUSIONS REGARDING REGIONAL CONSIDERATIONS While the larger regional benefits are a key element of the Saltworks development proposal, a comprehensive analysis of the potential regional transportation benefits has not been performed. Any local and regional transportation benefits and impacts would need to be considered in the context of the entire project. A CEQA analysis would need to quantify the potential regional benefits of the project and any project alternatives would need to be evaluated in a comprehensive manner and according to the current guidelines for estimating VMT and GHG emissions. This regional evaluation would need to rely on travel demand forecasts produced by a model that can assess both the regional and local travel behavior and captures the transit and transportation demand management features of the project. 7