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8.A. - Page 243 <br />8.A. - Page 1 <br />REPORT <br />To the Honorable Mayor and City Council <br />From the City Manager <br />August 22, 2011 <br />SW&IECT <br />Appeal of the certification of an Environmental Impact Report for Laurel Way Project <br />RECOMMENDATION <br />1. Grant the appeal; <br />2. Direct staff to revise the EIR to remedy the two deficiencies it has identified. <br />Further direct that, after staff has remedied those deficiencies, the matter be referred <br />back to the Planning Commission to reconsider the adequacy of the EIR as revised. <br />SUMMARYIOVERVIEW <br />This matter involves an appeal of the Planning Commission's August 24, 2010 decision <br />to certify an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Laurel Way Planned <br />Development, which involves a proposal to develop up to fib single-family homes on 20 <br />existing hillside lots, owned by 16 different parties. The applicant is the Laurel Way <br />Joint Venture (LWJV), which represents all but three of the owners. The appeal was <br />filed by a resident (Carrie Simon) on behalf of a neighborhood group (Concerned <br />Neighbors of Proposed Laurel Way Planned Development Project). Appellants contend <br />that the EIR does not adequately analyze the environmental impacts of the proposed <br />development. <br />The existing lots are much smaller than what the City's existing code allows, given their <br />steep slopes. However, the lots were lawfully created through a subdivision map filed in <br />1925. The lots are thus legal nonconforming, and, under section 33.2 of the City's <br />Zoning Code, the owners are entitled to develop the lots notwithstanding their small <br />size, so long as the development complies with all other code requirements. Such <br />development requires City approval of one or more Planned Development Permits. <br />LWJV filed an application for a Planned Development Permit in 2007, and the EIR was <br />prepared to analyze this proposed development. That application was still pending <br />when the Planning Commission certified the EIR. With the agreement of both LWJV <br />and the appellants, City staff deferred scheduling a hearing on the appeal of that <br />certification pending the Planning Commission's consideration of that permit application. <br />The Planning Commission held a hearing on December 7, 2010, at which time the City <br />learned that not all of the property owners had authorized LWJV to file the application <br />on their behalf. <br />