HomeMy WebLinkAboutNotice of Availability - 499 Forbes BlvdNOTICE OF AVAILABLITY
For a Draft
Environmental Impact Report
Date: May 20, 2020
To: State Clearinghouse and Interested Parties and Organizations
Project Title: 499 Forbes Boulevard Office Project
Lead Agency: City of South San Francisco
Planning Division
City Hall Annex, P.O. Box 711
South San Francisco, California 94083
Contact: Christopher Espiritu, Senior Planner
Public Review Period: May 20, 2020 – July 6, 2020, in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15082
Purpose of the Notice
The intent of this Notice of Availability (NOA) is to inform agencies and interested parties that the City of
South San Francisco has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed 499
Forbes Boulevard Office Project in accordance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
Guidelines Section 15082. The City of South San Francisco is requesting comments on the Draft EIR,
which addresses the potential physical and environmental effects of the proposed project in accordance
CEQA.
Project Location
The project site is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Forbes Boulevard and Allerton
Avenue at 499 Forbes Boulevard in the City of South San Francisco. The site, which totals 2.96 acres
(128,737 square feet), consists of two parcels (APN #015-082-040 and #15082260), one relatively
rectangular parcel, and one long, thin parcel that contains a portion of a decommissioned railroad track.
Offices, warehouses, and distribution centers for food packaging companies occur north of the project
site, across the railroad tracks. A large surface parking lot and bus station serving the biotechnology
company Genentech abuts the project site to the east, and the office and warehouses for a food
distribution company abuts the project site to the west. A vacant lot is south of the project site, directly
across Forbes Boulevard. Other surrounding uses include additional Genentech and biotechnology
company buildings and office buildings. Figure 1 shows an aerial image of the project site.
Background
The project site is zoned Business and Technology Park (BTP) in the South San Francisco Zoning
Ordinance. The project site is currently developed with a surface parking lot and landscaping along the
perimeter of the site, and a one-story vacant warehouse building. That building, approximately 54,000
square feet and built in 1968, was previously used by Columbus Salame, a meat processing, packaging
and distribution company.
Project Description
The project would involve the construction of two new structures, a five-story, 128,737 square-foot
office structure and a five-story, 97,859 square-foot parking structure with 308 parking spaces. The
existing one-story structure would be demolished as a part of project implementation. The new office
structure would be approximately 85 feet in height and would occupy the same general footprint as the
demolished structure. The parking structure would be 60 feet in height. Additional surface parking
spaces (14 stalls) would be located at the western edge of the project site, and bicycle parking would be
provided throughout the project site. Landscaped area would account for approximately 42,819 square
feet of the project site and would be located mainly along the perimeter, between the two new
structures, and at the rear of the site. A terraced outdoor seating area would be located at the
northwest corner of the site, near the existing rail line.
The project would also involve improvement of the existing railroad tracks as part of the City’s Rails-to-
Trails program. The trail would be adjacent to the proposed parking garage and extend northeast for
approximately 0.2 mile and then curve southwards to allow access from Forbes Boulevard. A connection
would be made between the new built trail and an outdoor amenity space at the northwest corner of
the site.
Vehicle access to the project site would be provided via a single 26-feet wide driveway on the western
portion of the site, allowing for ingress and egress of automobiles and small single-unit trucks. The
project would also involve modification to an existing roadway median on Forbes avenue to allow for a
new left turn lane. The project sponsor has submitted applications for Design Review, a Conditional Use
Permit, including for a reduction in required parking, and a Tentative Parcel Map to merge the two
parcels at the project site.
Summary of Impacts
As discussed in the Initial Study (Appendix IS of the EIR), all issue areas except Transportation were
found to have no physical environmental effects, a less than significant environmental effect, or a less
than significant environmental effect with incorporation of mitigation measures. Mitigation measures
related to nesting birds (Mitigation Measure BIO-1), archeological resources (Mitigation Measure CR-1),
seismic-related ground failure (Mitigation Measure GEO-1), and expansive soils (Mitigation Measure
GEO-2) are required and with implementation of these measures impacts related to sensitive species,
archeological resources, and geology and soils would be less than significant.
The Draft EIR evaluates Transportation impacts in detail and identifies mitigation measures related to
pedestrian facilities and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) (Mitigation Measures TRA-1 and TRA-2). With
mitigation, the Draft EIR concludes that impacts related to circulation would be less than significant.
However, impacts to VMT would be significant and unavoidable even after the implementation of the
mitigation measures.
The CEQA Guidelines require analysis of a reasonable range of alternatives to the project, or to the
location of the project, which would feasibly attain most of the project’s basic objectives and avoid, or
substantially lessen, any of the significant effects of the project. The Draft EIR analyzes the following
three alternatives: 1) No Project Alternative, 2) Research and Development Building, and 3) Reduced
Size Office Building.
Providing Comments
At this time, the City is soliciting your comments regarding Draft EIR from all interested parties
requesting notice, responsible agencies, agencies with jurisdiction by law, trustee agencies, and involved
agencies. Reponses to comments will be incorporated into the Final EIR. Because of time limits mandated by
State law, comments must be received no later than 45 days after receipt of this notice.
Comments may be submitted by U.S. mail or by email prior to July 6, 2020 at 5pm.
Mail comments to:
Christopher Espiritu, Senior Planner
Planning Division City Hall
City of South San Francisco
315 Maple Avenue
South San Francisco, CA 94083
Email comments to Christopher Espiritu at: [email protected]
For comments submitted via email, please include “EIR Comments: 499 Forbes Boulevard Office Project”
in the subject line and the name and physical address of the commenter in the body of the email.
All comments on environmental issues received during the public comment period will be considered
and addressed in the Final EIR, which is anticipated to be available for public review around July 2020.
The South San Francisco Planning Commission is anticipated to consider the EIR and make a decision on the
project at one of their regularly scheduled meetings after the end of the public comment period. This NOA
and other public review documents for this project will be available for viewing online at
www.ssf.net/CEQAdocuments. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hard copies will be mailed upon request
rather than accessible to the public at a physical location. If you need a hardcopy of the Draft EIR or any
of the documents referenced therein, please contact Christopher Espiritu, Senior Planner, at
[email protected] or (650) 877-8535, and he will mail you to one at no cost.
If you have any questions about the environmental review process, please contact Christopher Espiritu
at the contact information provided above.
________________________________
Christopher Espiritu, Senior Planner
Planning Division
City of South San Francisco
Attachments
Figure 1. Project Location
Figure 2. Proposed Project Site PlanFigure 2 Proposed Project Site Plan
Figure 1 Project Location
Figure 2 Proposed Project Site Plan