HomeMy WebLinkAboutNotice of Preparation - Southline Specific Plan17620.001 4832-0008-6460.2
NOTICE OF PREPARATION
OF AN EIR AND SCOPING MEETING FOR THE PROPOSED
SOUTHLINE SPECIFIC PLAN AND RELATED OFFSITE
IMPROVEMENTS
To: Agencies, Organizations, and Interested Parties
From: City of South San Francisco, Economic and Community Development Department
Subject: Notice of Preparation (NOP) of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in Compliance with Title 14,
Sections 15082(a), 15103, and 15375 of the California Code of Regulations (CCR; Title 14, Chapter 3 of the CCR is
described herein as the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines). The City of South San Francisco
(City) is the Lead Agency under CEQA for the proposed project identified below. The City will prepare an EIR for the
proposed project identified below:
Project Title: Southline Specific Plan. The project location and a summary of the project description are included
below and on the following pages.
Current Environmental Review: To ensure that the proposed project is fully analyzed under CEQA, a combined
program-level and project-level EIR will be prepared in compliance with CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines. An Initial
Study has not been prepared. The EIR will address all applicable environmental topic areas described in Appendix G
of the CEQA Guidelines.
As discussed below, the proposed project consists of buildout of the proposed Southline Specific Plan (Specific Plan)
in addition to proposed off-site transportation and circulation improvements, some of which are located within the City
of San Bruno (collectively, the proposed project). The EIR will provide a program-level analysis of the potential
effects on the environment that could occur from implementation of the proposed project, pursuant to Section 15168 of
the CEQA Guidelines. The EIR will also provide a project-level analysis of the initial development phase of the
Specific Plan (Phase 1), which is a component of the proposed project. If certified by the City, the EIR will be used to
provide CEQA clearance for adoption of the Specific Plan and entitlement of Phase 1, including certain offsite
improvements. The EIR may be relied on by other agencies, including the City of San Bruno as a Responsible Agency
pursuant to Section 15381 of the CEQA Guidelines, for purposes of approving aspects of the proposed project within
those agencies’ respective jurisdictions. The proposed project, including Phase 1, is described below.
Agency/Public Comments: The City requests your comments regarding the scope and content of the environmental
review to be conducted for the proposed project. Normally, State law requires that your response be received no later
than thirty (30) days after receipt of this notice. However, due to current shelter-in-place mandates related to the Novel
Coronavirus (COVID-19), the City will accept written comments on this NOP between May 22, 2020 and July 6,
2020, a period of forty-five (45) days. Please send your comments by email to adena.friedman@ssf.net or by mail to:
City of South San Francisco
Department of Economic and Community Development
Attn: Adena Friedman, Senior Planner
315 Maple Street
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Scoping Meeting: Pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21083.9 and Sections 15206 and 15082 of the CEQA
Guidelines, the Lead Agency also hereby gives notice of a public scoping meeting on this project to receive comments
on the scope of the EIR. In accordance with current shelter-in-place mandates related to COVID-19, the Lead Agency
will conduct a virtual scoping meeting on Thursday, June 11, 2020, beginning at 4:00 PM, via webinar and telephone
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conference line. During the scoping meeting, agencies, organizations, and the public will have an opportunity to
submit comments. The scoping meeting will include a presentation providing an overview of the project and the
CEQA process, followed by a question and answer session for online and phone attendees. Please note that comments
are limited to three minutes per speaker.
To access the scoping meeting webinar, please use this link from your computer, tablet or smartphone:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/961008925
You may need to install the Goto Meeting app on your device prior to the meeting:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/961008925
You can also dial in to the meeting using your phone:
United States (Toll Free): 1 (866) 899-4679
Access Code: 961-008-925
Please note that there are three ways to comment during the meeting:
1. Send a comment via email to SouthlineSP@ssf.net. City staff will monitor emails during the meeting and an
email comment received during the meeting will be read into the record. Your email should be limited so that
it complies with the 3-minute time limitation for public comment.
2. Call the Planning Division Hotline at (650) 829-4669. Voice Messages will be monitored during the meeting
and read into the record. Your voicemail should be limited so that it complies with the 3-minute time
limitation for public comment.
3. Submit a comment via the “chat” function in the GoTo meeting app. City staff will monitor the chat, and
will read comments and questions into the record.
EIR Process: Following the close of the NOP comment period, a Draft EIR will be prepared that will consider all
applicable environmental topic areas in Appendix G of the CEQA Guidelines and take into consideration NOP
comments. In accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15105(a), the Draft EIR will be released for public review
and comment for the required 45-day review period. Following the close of the public review period, the City will
prepare a Final EIR that will include responses to all substantive comments received on the Draft EIR. The Draft EIR
and Final EIR will be considered by City decisionmakers in making the decision to certify the EIR and to approve or
deny the components of the proposed project subject to review and approval by the City. If certified by the City, the
EIR may be relied on by other agencies for purposes of carrying out portions of the proposed project within their
respective jurisdictions. The certified EIR may also be relied upon by the City and other agencies in connection with
subsequent activities within the Specific Plan to determine the nature and scope of subsequent environmental review,
if any, pursuant to Section 15168 of the CEQA Guidelines.
Project Location & Existing Conditions: The project site consists of an approximately 26.5-acre site located on the
City’s southern boundary with the City of San Bruno, at the intersection of South Maple Avenue and Tanforan
Avenue, approximately 0.1 mile from the San Bruno BART Station (see Figure 1, Project Location) and
approximately 0.75 miles from the San Bruno Caltrain Station. The project site encompasses Assessor’s Parcel
Numbers (APNs) 014-250-090, 014-250-080, 014-250-050, 014-241-030, 014-241-040, 014-232-030, and 014-232-
050.
The majority of the project site (approximately 26.5 acres) is designated under the City’s General Plan as Office, a
designation intended to provide sites for administrative, financial, business, professional, medical and public offices in
locations proximate to BART or Caltrain stations. The majority of project site is currently within the Business and
Professional Office (BPO) zoning district, and is occupied by a variety of office, industrial, warehouse, and storage
facilities. A small, approximately 0.3-acre portion of the project site currently is designated under the General Plan and
zoned as Parks and Recreation. A General Plan Amendment is anticipated as part of the Specific Plan process to
ensure policy consistency.
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No housing units are present on the project site. Surrounding land uses include predominantly single-family residences
to the south of the project site, the San Bruno BART Station and the Shops at Tanforan and San Bruno Towne Center
located west of the project site, all of which are located in the City of San Bruno. Commercial, industrial, and
warehouse facilities are located to the north and east of the project site within the City of South San Francisco. The
Centennial Way Trail, a multi-use path, runs generally parallel to Maple Avenue to the west of the project site.
Project Description:
Specific Plan. The proposed project includes a new office/research and development (R&D) campus with a maximum
anticipated building area of up to 2.8 million square feet. The proposed project would demolish all existing on-site
uses and construct commercial buildings, a four-story supportive amenities building totaling approximately 88,200
square feet, approximately 3,075 underground parking spaces at various locations throughout the project site, a 9-story
parking structure with approximately 2,500 spaces, a new east-west connection road (Southline Avenue), supportive
utilities and related infrastructure, and approximately 369,000 square feet of open space. Commercial building heights
would range from four to seven stories subject to a maximum height of 120 feet. Development associated with the
proposed project would be implemented under the proposed Specific Plan, which would establish new land use
development standards and design guidelines for the project site. A phased development process for buildout of the
Specific Plan is anticipated. The EIR will also evaluate an optional reduced development scenario focused on life
science and R&D uses that would include buildings ranging in heights up to six-stories and totaling approximately 2.0
million square feet, with a floor area ratio (FAR) of approximately 1.75. The Specific Plan would allow for
development of either the office or R&D scenarios, or a hybrid of the two development scenarios combining
office/R&D uses, up to the maximum intensity studied in the EIR.
Off-Site Improvements. Off-site improvements associated with the proposed project that will be evaluated in the EIR
include the following, located within South San Francisco: reconfiguration of the South Linden Avenue and Dollar
Avenue intersection; reconfiguration of the existing at-grade rail crossing at South Linden Avenue; roadway widening
of South Maple Avenue; and signalization of intersections at Southline Avenue and the main Southline campus entry
point, and Dollar Avenue and Southline Avenue. The EIR will also evaluate proposed improvements located within
San Bruno, which are subject to separate application, review, and approval requirements: a new intersection
reconfiguring Huntington Avenue and connecting it with the new Southline Avenue, and signalization of the
intersection at Sneath Lane and Huntington Avenue. Additionally, the EIR will evaluate construction of related
improvements within South San Francisco and San Bruno including removal, installation, or relocation of
aboveground and/or underground utilities, sidewalks, curbs, and streetscape improvements. Refer to Figure 2, Specific
Plan Area Site Plan for a depiction of the proposed site layout and general locations of the proposed off-site
improvements.
Phase 1 Development Program. Phase 1 would include construction of the new Southline Avenue east-west
connection road described above and the following development south of the new road: three buildings totaling
approximately 613,800 square feet of office space; the four-story supportive amenity building totaling approximately
88,200 square feet; approximately 2,800 parking spaces in a combination of below-grade parking and the eastern
portion of the 9-story parking structure; and landscaping and open space amenities. As described below, Phase 1
would require approval of a detailed Precise Plan; future development phases would be approved as subsequent
precise plans pursuant to the Specific Plan. Refer to Figure 2, Specific Plan Area Site Plan for a depiction of the
proposed site layout.
Anticipated Entitlements. The anticipated entitlements required by the City of South San Francisco for
implementation of the Project would include the following: Southline Specific Plan (to be followed by Precise Plans
for individual phases of development); General Plan amendment and zoning map and zoning text amendments to
reflect adoption of the Southline Specific Plan; Precise Plan approval for Phase 1 development subject to the terms and
policies of the Southline Specific Plan; Conditional Use Permit approval for a parking reduction; Design Review;
Transportation Demand Management program approval; and Tentative Map approval to reconfigure the existing
project site parcels. The Applicant also intends to seek City approval of a Development Agreement.
In addition to the approvals by the City of South San Francisco, review and/or approvals or actions by other agencies
or entities may be required, including approvals by the City of San Bruno for offsite improvements located within its
jurisdiction.
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Probable Environmental Impacts:
Each of the following CEQA environmental issue areas will be addressed in the EIR: Agriculture and Forestry
Resources, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Energy, Geology and Soils, Greenhouse Gas
Emissions, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Hydrology and Water Quality, Land Use and Planning, Mineral
Resources, Noise, Population and Housing, Public Services, Recreation, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources,
Utilities and Service Systems, and Wildfire.
Senate Bill (SB) 743, which became effective on January 1, 2014, eliminated the requirement to evaluate impacts
related to aesthetics under CEQA for certain urban infill projects located within a Transit Priority Area (TPA),
including employment centers. The proposed project meets the criteria set forth in SB 743; therefore, the EIR will not
evaluate impacts related to Aesthetics. There is reasonable potential that the proposed project would not result in
significant impacts to Agriculture and Forestry Resources, Mineral Resources, or Wildfire. Therefore, these topics will
not be evaluated in detail in the EIR. The EIR will provide a discussion indicating the reasons why these topics are not
evaluated in detail in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15128. The City anticipates that all other topics listed
above will be evaluated in detail in the EIR.
In accordance with Section 15130 of the CEQA Guidelines, the Draft EIR will evaluate cumulative impacts of the
project, including the effects of other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable projects in the vicinity. Per Section
15126.6 of the CEQA Guidelines, the EIR will also identify and evaluate a range of reasonable alternatives to the
proposed project, including a No Project Alternative.
Date: May 22, 2020
Adena Friedman, Senior Planner
Telephone: (650) 877-8535
Email: adena.friedman@ssf.net
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Figure 1: Project Location
Project Site
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Figure 2: Specific Plan Area Site Plan