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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02_Ch1_ExecutiveSummary_web CHAPTER 1ExecutiveSummary 1.1PURPOSE OF THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This summary is intended to highlight the major areas of importance in the environmental analysis for the proposed project as required by Section 15123 of the CEQA Guidelines. The summary includes a brief description of the project, the project objectives, necessary actions, areas of controversy/issues to be resolved, the purpose of the Mitigation Monitoring Program (MMP), and a summary of alternatives to the proposed project. In addition, this chapter provides a table summarizing: (1) potential environmental impacts that would occur as a result of the proposed project; (2) the level of significance of the environmental impacts prior to implementation of any applicable mitigation measures; (3) the recommended mitigation measures and/or project requirements that avoid or reduce significant environmental impacts; and (4) the level of significance after mitigation measures are implemented (refer to Table 1-2 [Summary of Environmental Effects and Project Requirements/Mitigation Measures] at the end of this chapter). 1.2PROJECT DESCRIPTION A Master Environmental Impact Report Study Area (MEIR Study Area) of approximately 220 acres has been identified, of which 160 acres would eventually comprise the Genentech Research and Development Overlay District (Genentech R&D Overlay District). At buildout, Genentech expects to almost double its 2006 size (from 2.8 million sf to roughly 6 million sf) of office, research and development, manufacturing space, amenities buildings, and parking structures. This MEIR analyses the 220-acre MEIR Study Area. Table 3-1 shows the existing and proposed uses within the Genentech R&D Overlay District. The proposed project is located in the East of 101 Area, a planning sub area of the City of South San Francisco General Plan (General Plan), and is also controlled by the East of 101 Area Plan. Genentech also occupies other properties within the East of 101 Area that will not be incorporated into the Genentech R&D Overlay District. These other properties include Gateway (Gateway Campus), which is approximately 106 acres, and Britannia East Grand (South Campus), which is approximately 26 acres and is currently under construction. The Gateway Campus includes roughly 2,400 employees within three existing office buildings and two parking structures. These other properties are subject to other entitlements such as Specific Plans, Redevelopment Plans, Development Agreements, and Owner Participation Agreements. Additionally, Genentech currently owns the Bay West Cove property, which encompasses approximately 47 acres. The Bay West Cove property has an adopted specific plan guiding the future development within the area, and is not part of the proposed project. The approved buildout for the Bay West Cove property includes four separate planning areas. Planning area 1 would permit the following uses: Genentech Corporate Facilities Master EIR 1-1 Chapter 1 Executive Summary 60,000 sf of office and research and development; 20,000 sf of retail/restaurant; and 350 hotel rooms or 200,000 sf of office. Planning areas 2 and 3 would permit 564,000 sf of office and research and development, 10,000 sf retail/restaurant, and childcare for 80-100 children. Planning area 4 would permit 350 hotel rooms. The MEIR and the 2006 Facilities Master Plan Update (2006 FMPU) focus on areas within the Genentech R&D Overlay District which are divided into the Lower, Upper, Mid, and West Campus neighborhoods. The Gateway Campus, Bay West Cove, and South Campus are addressed as they relate to transportation and connectivity issues, but are not part of the proposed project. Table 1-1 Existing and Proposed Master Plan Areas (sf) Existing Genentech R&D Overlay District Proposed Genentech R&D Overlay District Net Change Land Area (acres) 124 160 36 Office 1,008,801 2,629,395 1,620,594 Laboratory 970,173 2,002,482 1,032,309 Manufacturing 779,892 1,041,668 261,776 Amenity 69,500 322,000 252,000 Total Building Area 2,828,366 5,995,545 3,167,179 Description of the 2006 Facilities Master Plan Update The 2006 FMPU is the long-range plan for the growth and development of the South San Francisco Genentech Campus which will be submitted to and reviewed by the Planning Commission and City Council in accordance with Section 20.39.040(b)(4) ?Genentech Research and Development Overlay District Regulations? of the South San Francisco Municipal Code (SSFMC) as part of the application for reclassification of the Genentech properties to the Genentech R&D Overlay District (Ord. 1163 § 2 (part), 1995). For planning purposes, the 2006 FMPU divides the Genentech Campus into four neighborhoods: Lower Campus, Mid Campus, Upper Campus, and West Campus. The 2006 FMPU growth strategy aims for expansion and redevelopment throughout the Genentech Campus, concentrating on more intense administrative and office development in the Upper Campus and West Campus. Research and development will continue to expand in the Mid and Lower Campuses. The Lower Campus will also support product development and related functions. In addition the amenities will continue to be distributed throughout the Genentech Campus. The expected growth of the Genentech Campus to 6 million sf of building space on 160 acres will result in an overall Genentech R&D Overlay District FAR of 0.69. Within the Genentech Campus, development intensity will vary in each neighborhood in response to available land. Maximum FARs of each neighborhood will not exceed 2.0 with a maximum overall FAR of 1.0 in the Genentech R&D Overlay District. Building typology will further dictate the development intensities throughout the Genentech Campus. The 2006 FMPU is organized into five chapters and covers concepts regarding overall land use and development intensity, urban design issues of massing, scale and views; utilities; transportation and parking. 1-2 Genentech Corporate Facilities Master EIR Chapter 1 Executive Summary 1.3PROJECT OBJECTIVES The Genentech Campus supports a wide variety of functions: offices, labs, research and manufacturing, and distribution facilities. With growth and substantial increase in employment, an overall structure for the Genentech Campus?hierarchy, roles for sub-areas within the Genentech Campus, clear paths of arrival, and circulation?is necessary. The 1995 Genentech Corporate Facilities Master Plan (1995 Master Plan) provided an integrated framework for the Genentech Campus. The 2006 FMPU will serve as a guide to the physical development of the Genentech Campus to the year 2016 (or until a new Facilities Master Plan is approved). The 2006 FMPU describes preferred land uses and projects future space needs to accommodate projected growth. It accommodates the City?s goals, Genentech goals, General Plan updates, and other revisions, which were modified or altered after the 1995 Master Plan. City of South San Francisco Policies Land uses in the East of 101 Area have rapidly transformed from light industrial/warehouse to biotechnology research, development and manufacturing. To guide this change, the City adopted the East of 101 Area Plan in 1994. Further, the South San Francisco General Plan Update, adopted in 1999, created the Business and Technology Park land use classification and included an intention to promote the East of 101 Area as a premier biotechnology, and research and development sector. The General Plan Amendment, adopted in 2001, revised land use build out projections and created the Transportation Improvement Plan for the East of 101 Area. The policies contained within these documents provide the City?s project objectives. The SSFMC designates most of the East of 101 Area with two zoning classifications: Planned Industrial, and for a portion of the area, Genentech R&D Overlay District. The 1 City?s policies, as described in the General Plan, are listed below: Provide appropriate settings for a diverse range of non-residential uses. Promote campus-style biotechnology, high-technology, and research and development uses. Unless otherwise stated in a specific plan, allow building heights in the East of 101 Area to the maximum limits permissible under the Federal Aviation Regulations Part 77. Do not vary permitted maximum development intensities based on lot size. Encourage the development of employee-serving amenities with restaurants, cafes, and support commercial establishments such as dry cleaners, to meet the need of the employees in the East of 101 Area. Such uses could be located in independent centers or integrated into office parks or technology campuses. Genentech?s Project Objectives Genentech, founded in 1976, has its corporate headquarters and research and development center located in South San Francisco. Due to its rapid growth in its first two decades, Genentech formulated the ?Genentech Corporate Facilities Master Plan? in 1995?an integrated framework for the development of Genentech-owned properties into a corporate campus. The 1995 Master Plan has passed its ten-year planning horizon. In 2005, Genentech applied to expand the Genentech R&D Overlay 1 City of South San Francisco General Plan, 1999. 1-3 Genentech Corporate Facilities Master EIR Chapter 1 Executive Summary District, and thereby initiated an update of the 1995 Master Plan. Among Genentech?s objectives are to address long range planning by coordinating infrastructure needs with the City and to respond to Genentech?s immediate and long-term business plans. The objectives of the 2006 FMPU are designed to be consistent and compatible with the City?s General Plan policies, ensuring that future growth and development within the project area avoids potential conflicts with the City?s objectives of promoting the East of 101 Area as a premier biotechnology and research and development sector. Genentech projects significant growth in its biopharmaceutical research and development and manufacturing business over the next decade. That will result in the need for substantial additional building space to accommodate that growth. Many biopharmaceutical companies have similar functional needs and facility requirements, and Genentech?s are typical. At its core, Genentech is science-driven. The source of its long-term strength is the close collaboration of its scientists with one another, the immediate availability of strong business services to support that scientific work, and the presence in the nearby community of world-class scientific institutions. Accordingly, Genentech has indicated that it has several functional objectives, in meeting its long-term growth needs: First, allow Genentech to keep its key scientific personnel in proximity, so that they may continue to work together in support of its research, development and production goals Second, to keep certain central aspects of its business, both scientific and administrative, together physically for efficiency and maximum support Third, to assure Genentech?s proximity to world-class scientific and academic institutions Fourth, to foster a sense of community among its employees, creating interconnectivity and ease of access The 2006 FMPU provides the physical expression of land uses, space needs, and planning principles that will support Genentech?s functional objectives. The proposed expansion of the Genentech R&D Overlay District would allow implementation of the 2006 FMPU. The Genentech R&D Overlay District encompasses approximately 160 acres, which is an increase from the 72 acres adopted in the 1995 Master 2 Plan. The proposed project intends to respond to these changed conditions and Genentech?s needs and growth, creating an overall framework for Genentech Campus development through the year 2016. It also addresses other Genentech locations outside the Genentech R&D Overlay District within South San Francisco as they relate to transportation and parking. Consistent with City General Plan policies, the 2006 FMPU will fulfill five broad objectives that also serve as project objectives: 1. Articulate vision and policies that will serve as general guide for the placement and design of individual buildings and other Genentech Campus elements, as well as an overall development program to provide the basis for future approvals. 2. Foster development of a Genentech Campus befitting its setting on the City?s eastern bayshore, that capitalizes on views and access to the waterfront. 2 Annual Report, Genentech, July 2005. 1-4 Genentech Corporate Facilities Master EIR Chapter 1 Executive Summary 3. Promote alternatives to automobile transportation to further the City?s transportation objectives by emphasizing shuttles, linkages, transportation demand management, and pedestrian access and ease of movement between buildings. 4. Establish the basis for the zoning provisions to be contained in an amended Genentech R&D Overlay District. 5. Provide design guidelines to be enacted after adoption of the 2006 FMPU that will serve as a basis for design review and approval for development in the 2006 FMPU area. The 2006 FMPU emphasizes policies that will achieve the purposes described above. Due to the long- range nature of the 2006 FMPU, flexibility during implementation is crucial, and thus, it does not establish the precise location, size or design of the individual buildings that will follow in the course of the next ten years, except as described in Section 3.5.3 below. Genentech Research and Development Overlay District (Genentech R&D Overlay District) Objectives The Genentech R&D Overlay District prescribes planning and design principles for facility-wide development in accordance with the 1995 Master Plan. The Genentech R&D Overlay District, as well as the 2006 FMPU, were established to achieve the following outcomes: (a) Establish a facility-wide architectural character, a system of open space elements and a pedestrian and vehicular circulation plan linking buildings and uses together in a flexible, logical and orderly manner for the Genentech facility (b) Increase the flexibility of the City?s land use regulations and the speed of its review procedures to reflect the quickly changing needs of a research and development focused corporation (c) Establish facility-wide development standards and design guidelines consistent with the City?s General Plan and the East of 101 Area Plan (d) Define a baseline of existing conditions for each lot reclassified to the Genentech R&D Overlay District 1.4NECESSARY ACTIONS BY THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO The City is the lead agency with the authority to carry out or approve the proposed project. Consistent with Section 20.39.040(b)(3), ?R&D Overlay District Regulations,? of the SSFMC, applications for reclassification to an R&D Overlay District shall be accompanied by documentation that establishes the condition of each individual lot to be reclassified in a form acceptable to the City?s Chief Planner. The 2006 FMPU is reviewed by the Planning Commission, which must find that the 2006 FMPU is consistent with the City?s General Plan and any applicable area plan, and fulfills the purposes of the R&D Overlay District as set forth in Section 20.39.020, ?R&D Overlay District Regulations? of the SSFMC. The associated facility design guidelines are subject to review and approval by the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission may approve the facility design guidelines if it finds that such guidelines are consistent with Section 20.39.020, ?R&D Overlay District Regulations,? and the criteria set forth at Section 20.39.040(b)(4)(D), ?R&D Overlay District Regulations.? It is likely that the approval of the Genentech R&D Overlay District will require the following: 1-5 Genentech Corporate Facilities Master EIR Chapter 1 Executive Summary Reclassification and zoning map change of the parcels in the Planned Industrial zone into the Genentech R&D Overlay District Zoning text changes to SSFMC Chapters 20.39 and 20.40 Adoption of the TDM Plan All future developments will be subject to a separate permit approval and CEQA review as established in SSFMC Chapter 20.39 At present time, and as a separate action from the proposed project, the East of 101 Area Plan will need to be updated to become internally consistent with the General Plan. This action is not a part of the 2006 FMPU. In addition to the City, there are also federal, regional, and state responsible agencies that have discretionary authority over specific aspects of the proposed project. These include, but are not limited to, the following: Bay Area Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB)?Issuance of a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit (NPDES) for construction activities disturbing more than 1 acre and permit for dewatering during construction, and approval of operational stormwater treatment California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)?Ensures compliance with all traffic related standards relative to state highways Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD)?BAAQMD ensures that all applicable federal and state air quality standards are achieved and maintained San Mateo County Flood Control District?Design approval for on-site flood control. San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC)?Jurisdiction includes activities within 100-foot shoreline band as well as permit authority for development adjacent to the San Francisco Bay Trail Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)?Height limits and noise contours relative to the operation of the San Francisco International Airport A comprehensive description of the proposed project, as well as an identification of the federal, state, and regional responsible agencies that have discretionary authority over specific aspects of the proposed project, are provided in Chapter 3 (Project Description) of this MEIR. 1.5AREAS OF CONTROVERSY/ISSUES TO BE RESOLVED This MEIR addresses environmental issues that are known or were raised by agencies or interested parties during the Notice of Preparation (NOP) public review period for the proposed project. Five comment letters were received in response to the NOP public review period. These five NOP comment letters are provided in Appendix A along with the Initial Study/Notice of Preparation. 1.6MITIGATION MONITORING PROGRAM (MMP) CEQA requires that a public agency adopt an MMP for mitigation measures that have been incorporated into the proposed project to reduce or avoid significant effects on the environment. The MMP will be 1-6 Genentech Corporate Facilities Master EIR Chapter 1 Executive Summary included as part of the Final MEIR for the proposed project and will be designed to ensure compliance with adopted mitigation measures during project implementation, as required by Public Resources Code Section 21081.6. This MEIR discusses feasible mitigation measures (MMs) that may be implemented to reduce significant environmental impacts. In addition, applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations that are considered part of the project description, as well as project features that are identified in the project?s Master Plan, and, therefore, are also part of the project description, are identified as Project Requirements (PRs) in the impact analysis and will be included in the MMP to ensure compliance. The MMP for the proposed project, which includes both Mitigation Measures and Project Requirements, would obligate the City to monitor implementation of the MMs and PRs. The MMP would be reviewed by the City in conjunction with its consideration of the proposed project and certification of the Final MEIR. The Draft MEIR uses the following terms to describe the level of significance of impacts identified during the course of the environmental analysis: Significant and Unavoidable Impact (SU)?Impact that exceeds the defined threshold(s) of significance and cannot be eliminated or reduced to a less-than-significant level through the implementation of feasible mitigation measures Potentially Significant Impact (PS)?Impact that exceeds the defined threshold(s) of significance and can be eliminated or reduced to a less-than-significant level through the implementation of feasible mitigation measures Less-Than-Significant Impact (LTS)?Impact that does not exceed the defined threshold(s) of significance No Impact (NI)?No effect on the defined threshold(s) of significance A ?significant effect? is defined by Section 15382 of the CEQA Guidelines as ?a substantial, or potentially substantial, adverse change in any of the physical conditions within the area affected by the project including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, ambient noise, and objects of historic or aesthetic significance. 1.7ALTERNATIVES Two alternatives were analyzed that would avoid or substantially lessen some of the significant effects of the project. These alternatives include the following: Alternative 1: No Project-Continuation of 1995 Master Plan?The Continuation of the 1995 Master Plan alternative would continue development of the Genentech Campus under the terms of the 1995 Master Plan. Under Alternative 1, the existing campus would continue on its current 124-acre site and the building area would be limited to current project entitlements (which are all under construction or approved). See Table 6.1 for details of this alternative development under the proposed land use categories of office, laboratory, manufacturing, and amenity. Alternative 2: Reduced Development?Under this alternative, the total campus buildout area would be 160 acres and the projected building square footage would be 4.63 million sf, and an 1-7 Genentech Corporate Facilities Master EIR Chapter 1 Executive Summary associated employee population of 11,025. See Table 6.1 for this alternative development under the proposed land use categories of office, laboratory, manufacturing, and amenity. The City considered during the planning process the feasibility of alternatives to the proposed project that would involve development of similarly-scaled facilities, but located outside of South San Francisco and the Bay Area. These offsite alternatives were found to be infeasible because they do not achieve the operational needs, project requirements, project objectives, or long term goals of Genentech. A detailed analysis of the alternatives is provided in Chapter 6 (Alternatives to the Proposed Project) of the MEIR. 1-8 Genentech Corporate Facilities Master EIR