AgdaPkt 2010-10-11 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7.A Page 7 • Economic Development • Seniors • Historic Resources • Child Care • Infrastructure • Culture and the Arts • Housing Element • Governance • Public Places • Atmosphere and Climate • Trails and Connections • Hazards Management • Recreation and Human Services • Noise • Health • Water Resources • Urban Forest • Energy Conservation • Natural Habitat and Open Space See Attachment 8 - Highlighted General Plan Text Changes for more detail. As required by State Law, staff has referred the proposed New General Plan to the California Native American Tribal list for consultation (on Feb. 15, 2008, and May 11, 2010). Although none of the tribes have expressed interest (no comments on the document or any written request for further notice have been received) a public hearing notice was sent to the Native American tribes for the September 7, 2010 Planning Commission public hearing as well as the October 11, 2010 City Council hearing. Environmental Impact Report(EIR) As part of the review and adoption of the New General Plan, the City must certify an EIR in accordance with CEQA. The EIR is considered a "program" EIR, which is an EIR prepared on a series of actions that can be characterized as one large plan, program or project and are related either geographically or as logical parts in the chain of contemplated actions. A program EIR is contrasted with a "project" EIR which analyzes the impacts of an individual activity or specific project (e.g. a site-specific development or improvement project). The program EIR is intended to provide information to public agencies, the general public, and decision makers regarding potential environmental impacts related to implementation of the New General Plan. A Draft EIR was completed, made available, and circulated for public review and comment (from May 11, 2010 to June 24, 2010), pursuant to the provisions of CEQA. The Draft EIR discussed all standard CEQA topics relevant to the proposed New General Plan. Highlights of topics include the following which had not been previously studied to this extent for a Redwood City General Plan: • Greenhouse gas emissions • Sea level rise • Shadows • Hydrology • Utilities • Energy In the past, the Planning Commission has been the CEQA approving authority for EIRs because it has been considered the "decision-making" body and has had final approval authority for the project. However in the instance of the General Plan, the Planning Commission is not the final decision making body for the project. Rather, the City Council is the approving authority for the New General Plan and thus it has authority to