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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Meeting 04-04-02 (Reso 2615-2002) - EIR-01-006 PCresoeir RESOLUTION NO. 2615-2002 PLANNING COMMISSION, CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO STATE OF CALIFORNIA A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL CERTIFY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT NO. O1- 006 INCLUDING A STATEMENT OF OVERRIDING CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE BRITANNIA EAST GRAND PROJECT. WHEREAS, an application was submitted by Slough Estates to approve a 27 acre, 805,000 square foot Office/Research and Development Campus including on-site childcare facility, retail/delicatessen space and fitness center at the easterly terminus of East Grand Avenue, on a site formerly occupied by Fuller O’Brien Paint Co., in the P-I Planned Industrial Zone District; and WHEREAS, the City determined that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was required to evaluate the impacts of the proposed project; and WHEREAS, The Final EIR (FEIR) for the Britannia East Grand Project consists of the Draft EIR, the Recirculation Draft EIR, the comments and responses to comments made on the Draft EIR and the Draft Recirculation EIR and the Mitigation and Monitoring and Reporting Program; and WHEREAS, the Draft EIR was prepared and circulated for a 45-day public/agency review period from October 11, 2001 through November 26, 2001; and WHEREAS, the Recirculation Draft EIR was prepared and circulated for a 45-day public/agency review period from February 7, 2002 through March 25, 2002; and WHEREAS, notice of the availability of the Draft EIR and Recirculation Draft EIR were published in the San Mateo Times, mailed to property owners within a 300-foot radius of the site, noticed to local agencies and cities, and circulated through the State Clearinghouse; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed meeting during the review period on November 15, 2001 to take public testimony on the Draft EIR; and WHEREAS, the Draft Environmental Impact Report reviewed and analyzed the following potential environmental impacts: • Land Use and Planning, including the maximum square footage of development allowed by the General Plan; S:\_ADMINISTRATIVE\Resolutions\2002\2615-2002 - EIR-01-006 PCresoeir.doc • Transportation and Circulation, including trips generated in peak hours, impacts to freeway segments, declines in Level of Service at nearby intersections, elimination of a public street through the Project, and restrictions on parking to reduce congestion; • Air Quality, including construction dust, and increases in regional air pollution; • Earth, including ground shaking, soil stability, landslides, lateral spreading, liquefaction and expansive soils; • Human Health, including the exposure of children in a proposed childcare facility and construction workers to contaminated soils, potential water quality degradation during operations; • Hydrology and Water Quality, including water quality degradation; • Cultural Resources, including potential to damage unknown cultural sites and artifacts; • Wetlands, including the loss and potential replacement of wetlands on-site, intrusion into the coastal marsh; • Utilities, including impacts to aging wastewater collection facilities, a potential shortfall in existing on-site wastewater collection facilities, cumulative demand for wastewater treatment capacity; • Cumulative impacts; and, WHEREAS, the Recirculation Draft EIR reviewed and analyzed traffic impacts at two selected street intersections that were not reviewed in the Draft EIR; and WHEREAS, a Final EIR was prepared, including responses to comments received on the Draft EIR and Recirculation Draft EIR, and sent to all state, regional, local and other agencies and individuals from which comments on the Draft EIR and Recirculation Draft EIR were received; and WHEREAS, mitigation measures have been incorporated into the Project to reduce identified impacts to a level of less than significant for all but two impacts; and WHEREAS, the proposed mitigation measure for a regional air quality impact, and the proposed mitigation measures for two transportation impacts cannot reduce the impacts to acceptable levels; and S:\_ADMINISTRATIVE\Resolutions\2002\2615-2002 - EIR-01-006 PCresoeir.doc WHEREAS, the City Council must adopt the required findings of Section 15091 of the State CEQA Guidelines for two of the Project’s significant environmental effects, which effects cannot be reduced to an acceptable level, with regard to air quality and transportation impacts; and WHEREAS, the Project cannot be approved unless a Statement of Overriding Considerations is adopted which balances the benefits of the proposed Project against its unavoidable air quality and transportation impacts, and an earlier Statement of Overriding Considerations was made by the City and applies to the Britannia East Grand Project as follows: 1. The City of South San Francisco approved an update to its General Plan and Environmental Impact Report in October, 1999. The City Council made a statement of overriding considerations in its approval of the General Plan update, because the measures identified to mitigate for traffic congestion along US 101 and regional air pollution would not be sufficient to reduce the impacts to less than significant levels. 2. The Britannia East Grand Project would impact some of the same freeway segments that were identified in the General Plan EIR and whose traffic and air quality effects could only be partially mitigated. 3. Therefore, the Statement of Overriding Considerations that was made for approval of the General Plan would also apply to decision-making on the Britannia East Grand Project by the City. 4. Additionally, the Project offers specific benefits as stated in the Statement of Overriding Considerations adopted for the Project, as stated in Section 5 of the Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations incorporated herein. WHEREAS, the South San Francisco Planning Commission held duly noticed public hearings on March 7, 2002 and April 4, 2002 to consider the Environmental Impact Report and the proposed General Plan Amendment, Planned Unit Development, Use Permit, Development Agreement and Design Review Applications and finds that: 1. The EIR was independently reviewed and analyzed by the City and reflects the independent judgement of the City as lead agency; and 2. The documents, including, but not limited to, the 1999 General Plan, the 1999 Certified Environmental Impact Report and Statement of Overriding Considerations, Draft EIR for the Project, the Recirculation Draft EIR, Final EIR, staff reports and testimony received at public hearings on the environmental documents and other materials constitute the record of proceedings on the EIR and the Planning Commission’s review thereof. Said documents are located at the Planning Division, City Hall Annex, 315 Maple Avenue, South San Francisco. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Planning Commission hereby recommends that the South San Francisco City Council certify EIR-01-006, including a S:\_ADMINISTRATIVE\Resolutions\2002\2615-2002 - EIR-01-006 PCresoeir.doc Statement of Overriding Considerations. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the resolution shall become effective immediately upon its passage and adoption. * * * * * * * I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was adopted by the Planning Commission of the City of South San Francisco at the regular meeting held on the 4th of April, 2002 by the following vote: AYES: Commissioner D'Angelo, Commissioner Honan, Commissioner Meloni, Commissioner Sim, Commissioner Teglia, Vice Chairperson Ochsenhirt and Chairperson Romero NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None ATTEST: Commission Secretary Thomas C. Sparks