Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 06-C0640 0 RESOLUTION NO. 06-C64 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA, CALIFORNIA ADOPTING FINDINGS PURSUANT TO THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT IN SUPPORT OF AN EXEMPTION FOR A GRADING PLAN MODIFICATION TO THE MONROVIA NURSERY SPECIFIC PLAN AND AN ADDENDUM TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE MONROVIA NURSERY SPECIFIC PLAN WHEREAS, the Governing Board of the City of Azusa (the "City") certified the Environmental Impact Report ("EIR") and approved the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan on February 3, 2003; and WHEREAS, the original entitlements for the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan Project included approval of a mass grading concept plan featuring certain pad elevations and a balanced grading approach; and WHEREAS, the applicant prepared a rough grading plan that refined the concept plan previously approved, showing the grade -separated railroad crossings, and 5 foot higher pad elevations in some parts of the Promenade District; and WHEREAS, the rough grading plan was evaluated and found technically sound by the City's Engineer, a permit was issued, and the applicant commenced grading activities; and WHEREAS, during the course of grading, it was determined that the soils on the Specific Plan site are more saturated than had been anticipated in the previous engineering and environmental studies; and WHEREAS, the applicant now proposes to revise the previously approved grading plans (the "Grading Plan Modification") to elevate the building pads in certain portions of the Specific Plan site; WHEREAS, the Grading Plan Modification strives to keep the grading condition on the Specific Plan site as close as possible to balance, given the saturated soil conditions, but the Grading Plan Modification will still result in the exportation of up to 130,000 cubic yards of additional soil from the Specific Plan site; and WHEREAS, if the City does not approve the Grading Plan Modification, up to 450,000 cubic yards of excess soil material will have to be removed from the Specific Plan site due to the saturated nature of the soils; and WHEREAS, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") (Public Res. Code, § 2100 et seq.), the State CEQA Guidelines (14 CCR § 1500 et seq.) and the City of Azusa's local CEQA Guidelines, the City of Azusa (the "City") is the lead agency for the project, as the public agency with general governmental powers; and SACRAMENTOIT V ELLI QUETTE34331.3 WHEREAS, State CEQA Guidelines Section 15183 mandates that projects that are consistent with the development density established by existing zoning, community plan, or General Plan policies for which an EIR was certified shall not require additional environmental review except as might be necessary to examine whether there are project -specific significant environmental impacts that are peculiar to the project or its site; and WHEREAS, State CEQA Guidelines Section 15164(6) authorizes preparation of an Addendum when only minor technical changes or additions to a previously certified Environmental Impact Report are necessary and none of the conditions described in CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 calling for a preparation of a Subsequent EIR or a Negative Declaration has occurred; and WHEREAS, City staff has examined the potential environmental impacts caused by the Grading Plan Modification and determined that there are no environmental impacts peculiar to the Grading Plan Modification or its location; and WHEREAS, all potentially significant environmental impacts of the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan Project, including off-site impacts and cumulative impacts, were analyzed in the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan EIR, and this EIR is conclusively presumed to be legally adequate under Public Resources Code Section 21167.2; and WHEREAS, there is no substantial evidence or new information that the Grading Plan Modification will have any significant adverse environmental impact, and none of the conditions described in CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 calling for the preparation of a Subsequent EIR or a Negative Declaration has occurred; and WHEREAS, the Grading Plan Modification represents a minor modification of the previously approved Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan Project; and WHEREAS, the Grading Plan Modification is fully consistent with the applicable Specific Plan, zoning, and General Plan for the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan Project site. NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA, CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY FIND AND DECLARE THAT: SECTION 1. Findings. (a) Based on the information made available in the staff report accompanying this Resolution and the Recitals set forth above, the oral presentation of staff, and other such written and oral evidence as presented to the City Council, the City Council finds and determines that the Grading Plan Modification is exempt from further CEQA review pursuant to Section 15183 of the State CEQA Guidelines. As set forth in more detail below, the Grading Plan Modification will not have any significant, unavoidable environmental impacts. Moreover, the Grading Plan Modification is consistent with the applicable General Plan land use designations and zoning, and the EIR the City certified for Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan Project analyzed the environmental impacts associated with the General Plan land use designations and zoning for the Specific Plan site. Consequently, under Section 15183(c) of the State CEQA Guidelines, no additional EIR need be prepared for the Grading Plan Modification. 2 SACRAMENTOIT V ELLIQUETTE\34331.3 0 0 Aesthetics. The Grading Plan Modification will not have any significant effect on the public views of the surrounding land uses as compared to the baseline conditions. Although the Grading Plan Modification has the potential to affect incidental views of the foothills from the bedrooms in second stories of three condominium units in the Sierra Palms complex, these views are incidental and are from private, not public, locations. Therefore, the City has determined that the Grading Plan Modification will not have any significant impact on aesthetics. Air Quality. As compared to baseline conditions, the Grading Plan Modification will not have any significant air quality impacts. All air quality impacts resulting from the Grading Plan Modification and the associated dirt -hauling operation are temporary construction impacts, and all of these impacts would be below the South Coast AQMD significance thresholds. Even if the Grading Plan Modification were not adopted, and the amount of soil exported from the Specific Plan site were increased from 130,000 cubic yards (CY) to 450,000 CY, the export of the soils would not have significant air quality impacts. The difference between exporting 130,000 CY and 450,000 CY of soil would be in the duration of the impacts, not the severity. The former would require approximately 72 to 86 working days to complete, and the latter would require 250 to 300 working days, but in either case, the impacts of the proposed change in the grading plans is not significant when compared to the baseline Specific Plan conditions. Noise. The increase in noise levels due to soil exportation by diesel trucks under the Grading Plan Modification would be less than 2.1 dBA along the haul routes. This level of noise is undetectable by most persons. Therefore, the noise impact of the Grading Plan Modification is less than significant. As with the Air Quality analysis, even if the Grading Plan Modification were not adopted, and the amount of soil exported from the Specific Plan site were increased from 130,000 CY to 450,000 CY, the amount of days required to haul the materials from the Specific Plan site would increase, but the proposed changes in the grading plans would not result in any significant noise impacts. Traffic. Additional truck traffic will be generated by the implementation of the Grading Plan Modification. The City's expert traffic engineers evaluated three alternative haul routes to determine whether intersections along the haul routes would be adversely affected by the Grading Plan Modification. The traffic engineer's report concluded that the use of Haul Route "A" would result in worsened conditions at two intersections that are already at Level of Service (LOS) "F", the lowest capacity rating. (Haul Route "A" is described as Sierra Madre Ave. west to Todd Ave., south on Todd Ave. to Foothill Blvd., west on Foothill Blvd. to Irwindale Ave., south on Irwindale Ave. to the 210 Fwy.) The intersections that are projected to be impacted are Todd Ave at Foothill and Todd Ave. at Sierra Madre Ave. Assuming Haul Route A is not used during peak hours, as required by the Conditions of Approval for the Grading Plan Modification, the temporary impacts on intersection service levels are deemed to be less than significant. Hydrology. Although the Grading Plan Modification will increase the elevation of some streets and building pads in parts of the Promenade District of the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan, none of the utilities or drainage structures will be affected. Therefore, the volumes, quantities and direction of surface water flow will remain consistent with the hydrology 3 SACRAMENMI' V ELLIQUETTEU4331.3 0 0 studies performed for the previously approved Specific Plan and its certified EIR. The Grading Plan Modification will not have any new significant impact on hydrology. (b) The City Council further finds and determines that, even if the Project were not exempt from CEQA under State CEQA Guidelines Section 15183, adoption of an Addendum to the Environmental Impact Report prepared for the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan Project is proper under Section 15164(b) of the State CEQA Guidelines because none of the conditions described in CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 calling for the preparation of a subsequent EIR or negative declaration has occurred. (c) In accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15164(b), and based on the information made available in the staff report accompanying this resolution, the oral presentation . of staff and other such written and oral evidence as presented to the City Council, the City Council finds and determines that the changes proposed to the previously approved Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan Project do not meet any of the criteria requiring preparation of a Subsequent or Supplemental EIR or a Negative Declaration, for all of the reasons set forth above in Section 1(a). First, the Project does not propose substantial changes to the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan Project that will cause significant environmental impacts not evaluated in the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan EIR or a substantial increase in the severity of the impacts identified in the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan EIR. Second, there are no substantial changes to the circumstances of the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan Project that will cause significant environmental impacts not evaluated in the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan EIR or a substantial increase in the severity of the impacts identified in the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan EIR. Third, there is no new information of substantial importance showing that the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan Project, as modified by this Project, will have one or more significant environmental impacts not discussed in the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan EIR or have environmental impacts that are substantially more severe than shown in the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan EIR. Fourth, there are no mitigation measures or alternatives that were found to be infeasible at the certification of the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan EIR that are now determined to be feasible. Finally, there are no new mitigation measures or alternatives considerably different from those analyzed in the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan EIR that would substantially reduce one or more significant impacts on the environment. Therefore, the Grading Plan Modification to the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan Project will not have any significant environmental impacts that would trigger additional environmental review. SECTION 2. CEOA. The City Clerk is directed to file a Notice of Exemption and Adoption of Addendum to the Environmental Impact Report prepared for the Monrovia Nursery Specific Plan Project. This Notice shall be filed with the Los Angeles County Clerk's Office within five (5) working days from the adoption of this Resolution. SECTION 3. Certification. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution. SECTION 4. Effective Date. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. 4 SACRAMENTOUVELLIQUE'I T04331.3 0 PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 7a' day of August, 2006. Diane Chagnon, Mayor I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing resolution No. 06-C64 was duly adopted by the City Council of the City of Azusa, at a regular meeting thereof, held on the 7th day of August, 2006, by the following vote of the Council: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: HARDISON, CARRILLO, ROCHA, HANKS, CHANGON NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE ATTEST: Vera Mendoza, City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: _ o ' Sonia Otrvalho, Ci AAttor y SACRAMENTO\T V ELLIQUEITEl34331.3