Loading...
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 [email protected] 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 17620.001 4832-0008-6460.2 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 [email protected]. 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. 17620.001 4832-0008-6460.2 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. 17620.001 4832-0008-6460.2 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: [email protected] 17620.001 4832-0008-6460.2 Figure 1: Project Location Project Site 17620.001 4832-0008-6460.2 Figure 2: Specific Plan Area Site Plan