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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAttachment 02b. - Air Quality GHG Update - Apr 2024 MEMORANDUM To: Jeff O’Connor, HomeFed From: Erin Lucett, Dudek Subject: Otay Ranch Village Eight East Project – Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Update Date: January 2024 cc: Alexandra Martini, Dudek HomeFed Village II, LLC (Applicant) requested that Dudek determine whether additional air quality or greenhouse gas impacts would occur as a result of proposed land use changes within Otay Ranch Village Eight East, beyond those impacts identified in the Otay Ranch University Villages Project Comprehensive Sectional Planning Area (SPA) Plan Amendment Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) (EIR-13-01; SCH No. 2013071077; City of Chula Vista 2014). 1 Project Description As part of the 2014 FEIR, the Otay Ranch Village Eight East project was approved by the City of Chula Vista City Council in December 2014 and incorporated into the Chula Vista General Plan and the Otay Ranch General Development Plan. Current entitlements accommodate a total of 3,276 residential units, including 943 detached homes, 1,893 attached homes and 440 multi-family units in a mixed-use setting. Village Eight East also included 20,000 square feet of retail/commercial uses, an elementary school, a neighborhood park and the 51.5-acre (gross) Otay Ranch Community Park South. Access to the village is provided via the extension of Main Street and Otay Valley Road with emergency and pedestrian access to the community park provided along a utility corridor i n the southeast portion of Village 8 East. The project applicant proposes to amend the Village Eight East land use plan to reflect current market conditions and housing needs, and to ensure the community relates more closely to the adjacent Village Eight West community and future Village Nine and University Innovation District planned east of SR -125 and accommodates the SR-125 couplet interchange design between Main Street and La Media Parkway. The proposed project would accommodate the approved 3,276 residential units, 20,000 square feet of commercial uses and other village-related land uses such as an elementary school, neighborhood park and Community Purpose Facility uses. The proposed project would now include all multi-family residential units instead of the previously proposed single- and multi-family residential units. Additionally, the project would reduce the overall acreage of the 2014 Tentative Map from 575.3 acres to 550.3 acres. The 2014 Tentative Map included the 22.6-acre AR-11 site, which is currently owned by the City of Chula Vista. AR-11 remains within the Village 8 East SPA boundary but is outside the Proposed Tentative Map boundary due to the ownership change. In addition to the exclusion of the AR-11 site from the Proposed Tentative Map boundary, the proposed tentative map has 2.4 fewer acres than the approved 2014 Tentative Map, MEMORANDUM SUBJECT: OTAY RANCH VILLAGE EIGHT EAST PROJECT – AIR QUALITY AND GREENHOUSE GAS UPDATE 13570 2 JANUARY 2024 0 representing a 25.0 acre reduction between the 2014 Tentative Map and the Proposed Tentative Map. The Proposed Tentative Map reflects the proposed Village 8 East land use changes and is consistent with the 3,276 residential units and 20,000 square feet of commercial uses currently authorized within Village 8 East. 2 Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases Review A summary of the mitigation measures from the University Village Comprehensive SPA Plan Amendment FEIR (2014), along with their applicability to the proposed land use changes, is included below: ▪ MM-AQ -1. This measure requires the use of specific equipment during project construction and the minimization of idling engines. This measure would continue to apply to all development in Village Eight East. ▪ MM-AQ-2 - This measure includes the implementation of BMPS to minimize the PM10 and PM2.5 emissions. This measure would continue to apply to all development in Village Eight East. ▪ MM-AQ-3 - This measure includes the demonstration that the project would comply with established criteria and that no gas stations would be located within 50 feet of sensitive receptors. This measure would continue to apply to all development in Village Eight East. The proposed modifications would result in a decrease in trip generation and traffic impacts and would not substantially change trip distribution patterns (Chen Ryan 2023). The total trips analyzed in the 2014 University Villages FEIR are 35,776 Average Daily Trips (ADT) with 2,899 trips (835-in/2,064-out) during the AM peak hour and 3,502 trips (2,350-in/1,152-out) during the PM peak hour. The proposed Village 8 East land uses are anticipated to generate 31,776 ADT, with 2,307, (530-in/1,777-out) trips during the AM peak hour, and 3,096 (2,078in/1,018-out) trips during the PM peak hour. This change represents 4,000 less ADT, 592 less (305-in/287- out) AM trips, and 406 less (272 in/134-out) PM trips, when compared to the 2014 University Villages EIR. The travel behavior of the remaining land uses previously analyzed as part of the approved project would be unchanged. As a result, operational emissions (specifically those resulting from mobile sources) associated with the approved project would be reduced as compared to the prior analysis. Additionally. GHG emissions would be reduced as compared to the previous project due to improvements in efficiencies that would result in less GHG emissions overall. Construction emissions would remain unchanged, as no change in the construction schedule or required construction equipment is anticipated. The proposed project boundary includes areas that were not included in the FEIR for the University Villages Project. In total, the changes to the TM for Village 8 East would result in 0.99 acres of offsite grading not previously analyzed in the University Villages EIR. Due to the overall reduction in acreage of the project boundary and impact area, impacts resulting from grading would result in similar or reduced impacts to air quality and greenhouse gas emissions compared to the 2014 FEIR. In addition, based on our review of the proposed changes, the identified impacts and associated mitigation measures in the previous EIR remain applicable to this project, and no additional mitigation measures would be required. In conclusion, there would be no new significant impacts related to air quality and greenhouse gas emissions resulting from implementation of the proposed project that were not previously analyzed as part of the University Villages 2014 FEIR. MEMORANDUM SUBJECT: OTAY RANCH VILLAGE EIGHT EAST PROJECT – AIR QUALITY AND GREENHOUSE GAS UPDATE 13570 3 JANUARY 2024 0 REFERENCES Chen Ryan. 2023. CEQA Transportation Analysis and Local Mobility Analysis – Village 8 East. September 2023. City of Chula Vista. 2014. University Villages Comprehensive SPA Plan Amendment Final Environmental Impact Report. December.