AgdaPkt 2011-08-22 - Laserfiche WebLink

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8.A. - Page 1 RE PO RT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager August 22, 2011 SUBJECT Appeal of the certification of an Environmental Impact Report for Laurel Way Project RECOMMENDATION 1. Grant the appeal; 2. Direct staff to revise the EIR to remedy the two deficiencies it has identified. Further direct that, after staff has remedied those deficiencies, the matter be referred back to the Planning Commission to reconsider the adequacy of the EIR as revised. SUMMARY/OVERVIEW This matter involves an appeal of the Planning Commission's August 24, 2010 decision to certify an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Laurel Way Planned Development, which involves a proposal to develop up to 18 single-family homes on 20 existing hillside lots, owned by 16 different parties. The applicant is the Laurel Way Joint Venture (LWJV), which represents all but three of the owners. The appeal was filed by a resident (Carrie Simon) on behalf of a neighborhood group (Concerned Neighbors of Proposed Laurel Way Planned Development Project). Appellants contend that the EIR does not adequately analyze the environmental impacts of the proposed development. The existing lots are much smaller than what the City's existing code allows, given their steep slopes. However, the lots were lawfully created through a subdivision map filed in 1926. The lots are thus legal nonconforming, and, under section 33.2 of the City's Zoning Code, the owners are entitled to develop the lots notwithstanding their small size, so long as the development complies with all other code requirements. Such development requires City approval of one or more Planned Development Permits. LWJV filed an application for a Planned Development Permit in 2007, and the EIR was prepared to analyze this proposed development. That application was still pending when the Planning Commission certified the EIR. With the agreement of both LWJV and the appellants, City staff deferred scheduling a hearing on the appeal of that certification pending the Planning Commission's consideration of that permit application. The Planning Commission held a hearing on December 7, 2010, at which time the City learned that not all of the property owners had authorized LWJV to file the application on their behalf.