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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Statement 1980/07/08 Item 08 , ~ COUNCIL AGENDA STATEMENT Item 8 Meeting Date 7/8/80 ITEM TITLE: Resolution IP/7~AdoPting amendments to the Environmental Review Procedures of the City of Chula Vista Director of Planning~ (4/5ths Vote: Yes___ No~) SUBMITTED BY: A. BACKGROUND The Environmental Review Committee has recommended certain revisions to the City's environmental review procedures. The purposes of these revisions are as follows: 1. The California Environmental Quality Act and the State EIR Guidelines have been amended and these revisions would implement those new requirements. 2. There have been several recent court decisions which have expanded the notice and hearing requirements; these amendments would carry out those decisions. 3. A few changes were found to be desirable and have been incorporated into the proposed revision. B. RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the resolution amending the Environmental Review Procedures. C. DISCUSSION 1. The new State EIR guidelines provide for their inclusion into local regulations by reference; therefore, the guidelines have been incorporated into Section 2.2 of these procedures and major sections have been omitted. This inclusion by reference greatly reduces the bulk of the procedures. The procedures are primarily used by city staff, the staff of other agencies or consultants. All of these groups are very familiar with the State EIR Guidelines and the inclusion by reference will not cause any problem. The local procedures tailor the State EIR Guidelines to meet local requirements and include sections specified by State legislation or guideline. 2. Section 15055 of the State EIR Guidelines provides for the delegation of certain responsibilities to the staff of a local agency. Functions included in this delegation include conducting initial studies and preparing Negative Declarations or EIRls. There- fore, these procedures would delegate new powers to the Environmental Review Committee, such as, a. Adopting forms, guidelines and standards that were previously contained in the appendices of the procedures. b. Adopting and maintaining the list of environmental consultants. c. Establishing detailed technical standards, such as vehicle trip generation factors and air pollution emission factors. d. Maintaining a map of the urbanized area of Chula Vista to be used as a guide for an expansion of exemptions established by the State. e. As discussed below, the holding of public hearings on various environmental 1 h review determinations. 1{J~rm -~-113 (Rev. 11/79) EXHIBITS Agreement____ Resolution~ Ordinance____ Plat____ Notification List Other ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT: Attached Submitted on Page 2, Item 8 Meeting Date 7/8/80 ~ 3. Over the past several years it has been the policy of the Environmental Review Committee to make every legal effort to expedite and simplify the environmental review process. Over the past several months there have been several court decisions which run counter to this policy. The central theme running through these decisions is that a public agency, such as the City of Chula Vista, must notify individuals with interest in property which could be affected by the proposed project that an investigation of the environmental impact of the project is about to begin. Such individuals must be given the opportunity to comment in front of some body prior to a decision being made. To implement these decisions the following changes have been recommended. These changes are currently being carried out by staff to avoid any legal problems. a. After giving notice to adjacent property owners, the Environmental Review Committee will hold public hearings on Initial Studies to determine if a Negative Declaration or EIR is required. This, of course, would eliminate Negative Declarations being recommended by the Environmental Review Coordin- ator. b. If an EIR concludes that a project would result in one or more significant impacts, then the decision-making authority would have to hold a public hearing on the required CEQA findings and Statement of Overriding Considera- tions. c. Prior to the preparation of an EIR, the Environmental Review Coordinator will give notice and hold a public meeting to identify environmental issues which should be discussed in the EIR. 4. The "three party contract" system for the preparation of ErR's has proven to be very effective in providing the city with higher quality information regarding the environ- mental impact of projects. This has some times resulted in the need to make major design changes in projects. To avoid this situation it is proposed that prior to the submission of large scale projects, or projects in sensitive areas, a constraints inventory would be prepared and the developer can then use that data ito design a project to avoid significant environmental impact. .. 5. The State EIR Guidelines now provide for the exemption of somewhat larger scale projects in urbanized areas. This includes exempting the construction of 10,000 sq. ft. additions vs. 2500 sq. ft. (class le); three single family dwellings vs. one (class 3a); six apartments vs. four (class 3b); and parcel maps under restricted conditions (class ls). These slightly more liberal exemptions have been added to the Chula Vista procedures. 6. It is proposed that the section dealing with fees be removed from the procedures and the fees added to the Master Fee Schedule. --~ -:7 ~ g_ g' () !{)/70-