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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReso 47-1985 RESOLUTION NO. 47-85 CITY COUNCIL, CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA A RESOLUTION ADOPTING A STATEMENT OF OVERRIDING CONSIDERATIONS RELATED TO APPROVAL OF THE SOUTH SLOPE GEOTECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO THE HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN AND SECTION lO(a) PERMIT (14 CAL. ADMIN. CODE §15093) RECITALS WHEREAS, it is the policy of the State of California and the City of South San Francisco, as provided in the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970, as amended, and the provisions of Title 14, California Administrative Code, Guidelines for Implementation of the California Environ- mental Quality Act of 1970 (hereinafter "CEQA" and "Guidelines," respectively), that the City should not approve projects as proposed if there are feasible alternatives or feasible mitigation measures available which would mitigate the environmental effects of such projects to a level of insignificance; and WHEREAS, on November 15, 1982 the City Council adopted Resolution No. 131-82 authorizing execution of the Agreement with respect to San Bruno Mountain Area Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), after considering the final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment (EIR/EA), prepared for the HCP pursuant to the provisions of the CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines and previously certified by the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Mateo; and WHEREAS, the City Council supplemented and clarified its findings with re- spect to the EIR/EA on February 16, 1983, as set forth in Resolution No. 25-83, in order to ensure compliance with CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines; and WHEREAS, on March 4, 1983, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued an Endangered Species Act Section lO(a) Permit (Section lO(a) Permit) based on the HCP and EIR/EA and on November 4, 1982 and thereafter all parties to the HCP and Section lO(a) Permit entered into an Agreement with Respect to the San Bruno Mountain Conservation Plan (HCP Agreement); and WHEREAS, geotechnical investigations conducted since approval of the HCP, HCP Agreement and Section lO(a) permit have disclosed the need to repair slide areas on San Bruno Mountain which directly threaten the proposed Terrabay development; and WHEREAS, a site specific amendment to the HCP, HCP Agreement and Section lO(a) permit has been prepared to allow such slide repair work to be performed; and WHEREAS, a Final Supplement to the HCP EIR/EA (Final EIR/EA Supplement) has been prepared pursuant to Sections 15162 and 15163 of the CEQA Guidelines to address environmental effects of said proposed amendment to the HCP, HCP Agree- ment and Section lO(a) permit; and WHEREAS, the Final EIR/EA Supplement is a focused supplement, addressing biological, geological and visual impacts, which are the only new significant environmental impacts of the proposed amendment; and WHEREAS, the City Council, in Resolution No. 46-8§ i, has made certain findings pursuant to requirements of CEQA and Section 15091 of the Guidelines pertaining to the significant impacts identified in the Final EIR/EA Supplement and has identified those significant impacts which, by virtue of mitigating measures described in the Final EIR/EA Supplement have been mitigated to acceptable levels, as well as those impacts which are infeasible of mitigation and for which feasible alternatives are not available; and -2- WHEREAS, Section 15093(a) of the CEQA Guidelines requires the City to balance the benefits of a proposed project against its unavoidable environ- mental risks in determining whether to approve the project; and WHEREAS, Section 15093(b) of the CEQA Guidelines requires where the decision of the City allows the occurrence of significant effects which are identified in the Final EIR/EA Supplement but are not mitigated, the City must state in writing the reasons to support its action based on the Final EIR/EA and/or other information in the records; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of South San Francisco makes the following Statements of Overriding Considera- tions in support of its action, and as required by the Guidelines. 1. The San Bruno Mountain Area Habitat Conservation Plan ("HCP") sets forth a program to preserve and enhance habitat for an endangered species, the Mission Blue butterfly and other identified species, including the Callippe Silverspot butterfly (hereinafter "Species of Concern") and the San Bruno Mountain Area Ecological Community. 2. The primary purpose of the HCP is to provide for the indefinite per- petuation of the Mission Blue butterfly and to provide for the protection and enchancement of the San Bruno Mountain Area Ecological Community including all of the Species of Concern, while simultaneously providing private landowners with a permanent resolution of the endangered species and habitat issues they face in order to obtain approval for development projects. 3. The HCP and the EIR/EA and EIR/EA Supplement supporting the HCP have comprehensively addressed all known threats to the endangered species, including biological threats as well as threats from human activity. The HCP and its -3- mitigation program is based upon sound biological judgment performed by an independent expert under contract to the County of San Mateo (hereinafter the "County") as Plan Operator for the Habitat Conservation Plan and sets forth a program which will guide habitat conservation strategies within the area of the Habitat Conservation Plan. 4. The biological consultant for the County has concluded in the Final EIR/EA Supplement that the additional impact contemplated by the geotechnical repair will not impair the long term survival of the Mission Blue butterfly. 5. The biological consultant has concluded that approval of the geo- technical repair activity for the Terrabay development will not conflict with the primary purpose of the HCP to provide for the indefinite perpetuation of the Mission Blue butterfly. 6. The biological consultant has also concluded that the offsite mitiga- tion adopted with approval of the site specific geotechnical amendment, will provide protection and enhancement for other species of concern within the San Bruno Mountain Area Ecological Community, by removing invasive vegetation which threatens the Mission Blue habitat within other areas of the ecological community. 7. Implementation of the HCP and its attendant development is likely to alleviate the significant risk that both Mission Blue and Callippe Silverspot butterfly species will become extinct on San Bruno Mountain within 5 to 20 decades. The HCP provides that certain mitigation measures be adopted, includ- ing the conveyance of privately owned property to the County and the retention of such habitat in public ownership in perpetuity. 8. The planned development will provide a mix of housing opportunities for various income levels and will significantly add to the stock of available -4- housing within the City of South San Francisco. The planned development will help alleviate an existing housing shortage in South San Francisco. In addition to housing units, the HCP provides for the development of office and commercial space, visitor serving facilities, and additional recreational and community facilities. 9. Development allowed by the HCP will provide the permanent funding source to protect the existing grassland areas from both invasions of brush and exotic species and from destruction of off-road vehicles and vandalism. It will also provide the funding for conservation activities such as restoration of Iow grade habitat areas. 10. Approximately $50,000 per year will be obtained through interim funding paid by land owners within the area for preliminary habitat restoration activi- ties, native plant seeding and species population monitoring and other habitat enhancing and monitoring activities. It is anticipated that the amount of permanent annual funding will ultimately be in excess of $60,000. 11. The planned Terrabay development will provide for the upgrading of the storm drainage system presently handling runoff from San Bruno Mountain. The present system is subject to periodic overflows in Colma Creek and is the source of periodic flooding of Highway 101. The improvements to this system to be constructed by the Terrabay developer will alleviate these problems. Without the proposed project, development of Terrabay would be uncertain, and the contemplated improvements to the storm drainage system could not occur. 12. The proposed project would repair landslide areas which carry the potential of failure. As long as the slide areas remain unrepaired, a threat to the safety of persons and property would exist below the toe of the slide areas. These slide areas presently represent a threat to proposed improvements -5- below the toe of the slide. Slide repair would eliminate this potential threat to public safety. I hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was regularly introduced and adopted by the City Council of the City of South San Francisco at a regular meeting held on the 27thday of February _, 19 85 , by the following vote: AYES: Councilmembers Emanuele ~. Damonte~ Richard A. Nn~f~y~ Gus Nicolopulos; and Roberta Cerri Teglia NOES: Councilmember Mark N. Addieqo ABSENT: None -6-