Title
Staff Report for San Leandro Shoreline Development Project Draft Environmental Impact Report (SCH#2013072011): Work session to provide members of the public and the City Council an opportunity to comment on the adequacy and accuracy of the Draft EIR prepared for the San Leandro Shoreline Project. The 75-acre project site (52-acre site land area and 23-acre water area which encompasses the San Leandro Marina and surrounding properties) is located on Monarch Bay Drive, between Marina Boulevard and Fairway Drive. The project site consists of 10 separate Alameda County Assessor's Parcel Numbers, 79A-475-9-4; 79A-590-1-5; 79A-590-1-7; 79A-590-2; 79A-590-3; 79A-590-4; 79A-590-5; 79A-590-6; 80G-900-1-8; and 80G-900-4-1. Cal-Coast Companies LLC is the project applicant and the City of San Leandro is the property owner.
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This report is for information only, and no action is required. The purpose of this January 26, 2015 worksession is to receive comments from the public and the City Council on the adequacy of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR) that has been prepared for the San Leandro Shoreline Development Project.
BACKGROUND
Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Draft EIR was prepared by the City of San Leandro Community Development Department. The Draft EIR was released for public review on December 9, 2014. A Notice of Availability/Notice of Release of a Draft EIR was mailed to property owners within 500 feet of the project area, distributed to State and local agencies and posted on the City's website. The Draft EIR may be found on the City of San Leandro website at: <http://www.sanleandro.org/depts/cd/shoreline> and copies may be reviewed at the San Leandro Main Library and at the City's Community Development Department at 835 E. 14th Street. Hard copies or a CD of the Draft EIR may also be obtained at the Community Development Department.
The 60-day public comment period on the Draft EIR will end on February 6, 2015. The City chose to circulate the Draft EIR beyond the required minimum of 45 days to accommodate the closure of San Leandro City Hall for the holiday period from December 24, 2014 through January 2, 2015.
In addition to all comments made at this worksession, written comments are encouraged. All written comments related to the Draft EIR should be directed to Jennifer Chin, Administrative Assistant, Community Development Department, 835 E. 14th Street, San Leandro, CA 94577 (fax: 510-577-6007), jchin@sanleandro.org. All written comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. on February 6, 2015.
After the close of the public comment period, written responses will be prepared that address all written and oral comments received that address environmental issues in the Draft EIR. Once the Final EIR, containing the comments received, responses, and any resulting addenda has been prepared, the Planning Commission and the City Council will have an opportunity to review all comments and responses, and will consider certification of the EIR prior to taking any action on the entitlements required for the proposed project.
Analysis
This meeting is not intended to take comments on the project merits, and no decisions will be made on the EIR or proposed project at this time. Furthermore, staff will not be responding to comments on the Draft EIR at this meeting, but instead will consider all written and oral comments received that address environmental issues and respond thoughtfully and comprehensively in writing in the Final EIR.
As required by CEQA, the comments and written responses are compiled in the Final EIR; therefore, once the Final EIR is released, all comments and related responses will be available to the commenters, as well as the rest of the public. CEQA requires that a Final EIR be made available at least 10 days prior to public hearings regarding certification of the Final EIR. The Planning Commission will consider the Final EIR at its public hearing on the Project, tentatively scheduled for late Spring 2015. Once the Planning Commission makes its recommendation on the EIR certification and the entitlements associated with the Project, the City Council will consider the Final EIR before taking action on the Project.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Location of the Project
The 75-acre project site (52-acre site land area and 23-acre water area which encompasses the San Leandro Marina and surrounding properties) is located on Monarch Bay Drive, between Marina Boulevard and Fairway Drive. The project site consists of 10 separate Alameda County Assessor's Parcel Numbers, 79A-475-9-4; 79A-590-1-5; 79A-590-1-7; 79A-590-2; 79A-590-3; 79A-590-4; 79A-590-5; 79A-590-6; 80G-900-1-8; and 80G-900-4-1. Cal-Coast Companies LLC (Cal-Coast) is the project applicant and the City of San Leandro is the property owner.
Details of the Project
As a part of a public/private partnership, the City of San Leandro and Cal-Coast propose to redevelop the 52-acre site land area (owned by the City) and 23-acre water area (owned by the City), which encompasses the San Leandro Marina and surrounding properties, with residential, commercial, and public recreational uses. Implementation of the Project would involve the removal of some of the structures on the site including the existing El Torito restaurant building, the Mulford Branch Library building, and the San Leandro Yacht Club building. For the purpose of the environmental analysis, it is being assumed that the harbor master's office, fuel pump/dock, and the 462 existing boat slips in the harbor basin would eventually be removed at such time as safe and navigable boating operations cease to exist. Additionally, five of the tees/holes on the nine-hole Marina Golf Course would need to be reconfigured in order to accommodate the housing that is proposed to be built on the grounds of the course; however, no tees/holes would be removed as part of the Project. The existing Marina Inn building and the Horatio's restaurant building on the site would remain.
New features proposed on the site as a result of the Project include an approximately 150,000-square-foot office campus, a new 200-room hotel, an approximately 15,000-square-foot conference center, 354 housing units, three new restaurants totaling approximately 21,000 square feet, and a new parking structure. A variety of public amenities would be installed. Some of these amenities include a new approximately 2,500-square-foot community library/community meeting space, an aquatic center/dock, bocce ball courts, outdoor recreational areas, picnic areas, a perched beach, pedestrian piers, two miles of public promenade, a natural shoreline element along the interior of the harbor basin, a pedestrian/bicycle bridge, a boardwalk/lookout pier, several small finger piers, and refurbishment of existing public restrooms on site. Additionally, with implementation of the Project and removal of the existing boat slips, the basin would only be open to non-motorized watercraft. For this reason, the Project includes the construction of a small boat launch, a kayak storage building, and an aeration fountain in the harbor basin to aid in water circulation.
Please refer to the Draft EIR document for a complete Project Description (Chapter 3.)
SCOPE OF THE Draft EIR
The Draft EIR assesses the impacts of the San Leandro Shoreline Development Project at a detailed, project-specific level.
The following environmental topics are addressed in the Draft EIR:
· Aesthetics
· Air Quality
· Biological Resources
· Geology, Soils and Seismicity
· Greenhouse Gas Emissions
· Hazards and Hazardous Materials
· Hydrology and Water Quality
· Land Use and Planning
· Noise
· Population and Housing
· Public Services and Recreation
· Transportation and Traffic
· Utilities and Service Systems
SIGNIFICANT and unavoidable IMPACTS IDENTIFIED IN THE DRAFT EIR
All impacts and mitigation measures identified in the Draft EIR are summarized in Section 1.6 of Chapter 1, Executive Summary, in Table 1-1. Table 1-1 also provides a conclusion as to the level of significance of the impact after recommended mitigation measures are implemented. Other than the impacts discussed below, all of the environmental effects of the project can be reduced to less than significant levels through implementation of recommended mitigation measures.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
§ GHG-1. Significant. While mitigation measures have been identified to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as providing electric vehicle charging stations, requiring installation of energy efficient appliances, and requiring employee trip commute reduction programs, to name a few, GHG emissions would continue to exceed the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) regional significance thresholds; therefore, this impact would remain significant and unavoidable.
§ GHG-3. Significant. Implementation of the Project would directly or indirectly generate GHG emissions that may have a cumulatively considerable impact on the environment. Although Mitigation Measures GHG-1A through GHG-1F would reduce GHG emissions to the extent practicable, emissions would continue to exceed the BAAQMD regional significance thresholds; therefore, the cumulative impact would remain significant and unavoidable.
Noise
§ NOISE-2. Significant. During construction, grading, and demolition activities that would use vibration-intense equipment such as pile driving, rock blasting, and vibratory rollers that would occur within 250 feet of existing residential, commercial, libraries, and hotel buildings, control measures would be implemented, such as considering alternative construction methods to reduce and/or minimize vibratory construction equipment where feasible, restricting vibration-intense construction activities to certain times, and inspection of structural components of existing structures prior to the use of vibratory equipment. However, it is unknown at this point if implementation of these measures would be feasible and if they would provide enough reduction to mitigate levels below thresholds. Therefore, this impact would remain significant and unavoidable.
§ NOISE-3. Significant. The proposed single- and multi-family residential uses along Marina Boulevard west of Aurora Drive would experience a noise increase of 4.1 dBA for future scenarios due to Project-related traffic. According to San Leandro General Plan Policies 35.03 and 35.04, the noise level increase at residential uses along this segment would be considered a significant impact. Potential mitigation measures included the construction of noise barriers along this road, or resurfacing this segment with rubberized asphalt; however, the construction of noise barriers along this road are not feasible as the residential areas front and access Marina Boulevard. Additionally, rubberized asphalt is only effective at roads in which cars travel at high speeds, and the speed limit in this area is low; thus, this solution would not be effective. Therefore, no feasible mitigation measures are available and this impact would be significant and unavoidable.
Transportation and Traffic
§ TRAF-2A. Significant. Although Mitigation Measures TRAF-2 would mitigate the impacts related to the reduction of level of service to an acceptable level on the I-880 northbound segment north of Davis Street, the mitigation measures are not considered feasible due to cost and right-of-way constraints associated with widening I-880. Further, the effectiveness of a shuttle service in reducing the number of Project trips cannot be adequately quantified. As such, this impact would remain significant and unavoidable.
§ TRAF-2B. Significant. Mitigation Measures TRAF-2B.1 and TRAF-2B.2 would involve widening Doolittle Drive and providing shuttle service operating between the Project site and key locations such as the San Leandro and Coliseum BART stations and Oakland International Airport to reduce the V/C ratio (volume/capacity ratio) on the northbound segment of Doolittle Drive, which would result in an acceptable Level Of Service (LOS) under Year 2020 and 2035 conditions. While these measures would improve the level of service and mitigate the impact to less than significant, feasibility of these measures is uncertain due to right-of-way constraints along this corridor. Additionally, the shuttle service, though likely to reduce impacts, could not be quantified. As such, this impact would remain significant and unavoidable.
§ TRAF-7B. Significant. Additional traffic associated with the Project would cause I-880 southbound ramps and Marina Boulevard (#14) to reduce to LOS E during both weekday AM and Saturday peak hours under Near-Term Cumulative Conditions. While Mitigation Measures TRAF-7B.1 and TRAF-7B.2 would improve level of service at this intersection, this ramp is under Caltrans jurisdiction; therefore, implementation and timing of these mitigation measures would not be within the City's jurisdiction and the impact would remain significant and unavoidable.
§ TRAF-7C. Significant. The Project would cause operations at the intersection of San Leandro Boulevard and Marina Boulevard (#18) to reduce from LOS D to LOS E in the AM peak hour and would add to the unacceptable LOS F in the PM peak hour and cause the V/C ratio to increase by 0.07. While Mitigation Measures TRAF-7C.1 and TRAF-7C.2 are identified in the Kaiser Permanente San Leandro Medical Center/Mixed Use Retail Development Project EIR and would fully mitigate the Near-Term cumulative impact during the AM and PM peak hours, the available right-of-way on the northbound approach would not be sufficient to accommodate the two left-turn lanes, one through lane, and one shared through-right turn lane, as well as a bike lane. Therefore, this impact would remain significant and unavoidable.
§ TRAF-7I. Significant. The Project would case the operations at the intersection of I-880 southbound ramps and Marina Boulevard (#14) to reduce from LOS D to LOS E in the AM peak hour; and would reduce the level of service from LOS E to LOS F in the weekday PM and Saturday peak hours and cause the V/C ratios to increase by 0.10 during both periods, which is higher than the 0.05 allowed by the City. While Mitigation Measure TRAF-7I would lessen impacts, this ramp intersection is under Caltrans jurisdiction and the implementation and timing of this mitigation measure are not under City control. As such, this impact would remain significant and unavoidable.
§ TRAF-7J. Significant. The Project would add to the Long-Term Cumulative No Project substandard LOS F operations at the intersection of San Leandro Boulevard and Marina Boulevard (#18) and cause the V/C ratio to increase by 0.07 in the AM peak hour and 0.10 in the PM peak hour. Although Mitigation Measures TRAF-7C.1 and 7C.2 would reduce the V/C ratios to a less-than-significant level by adding a northbound left-turn lane on San Leandro Boulevard and restriping lanes on the west leg to provide two corresponding receiving lanes, the available right-of-way would not be sufficient to accommodate the necessary northbound travel and bike lanes; therefore, this would remain a significant and unavoidable impact.
Alternatives
The Draft EIR analyzes alternatives to the Project that are designed to reduce the significant environmental impacts of the Project and feasibly attain most of the Project objectives. The following alternatives to the Project were considered and analyzed in detail:
· No Project
· Relocated Hotel Alternative
· Reduced Density/Intensity Alternative
Chapter 6, Alternatives to the Project, includes a complete discussion of these alternatives and of alternatives that were rejected for various reasons.
No Project Alternative
Consistent with Section 15126.6 (e) (2) of the CEQA Guidelines, under the No Project Alternative, the Project site would remain in its existing condition. Although existing land use designations and zoning would allow for some future development under existing conditions, under this alternative, the Project site would not be further developed. Further, improvements proposed by the Project, such as removing the marina infrastructure, adding new housing units, new restaurants, commercial and retail uses, a new parking structure, and public amenities, including a community library, aquatic center, and enhanced shoreline access, would not occur.
Relocated Hotel Alternative
Under the Relocated Hotel Alternative, the proposed hotel would be relocated from its proposed location at the end of Mulford Point Drive. Potential locations that could accommodate the hotel include: the parking lot along Pescador Point Drive, which is southeast of the current proposed location; the parking lot along Mulford Point Drive, which is directly adjacent to the northeast of the proposed location; and on the corner of Monarch Point Drive and Monarch Bay Drive. Under this alternative, all other components, such as square footage, residential units, hotel rooms, and other development, of the Project would remain the same.
Reduced Density/Intensity Alternative
Under the Reduced Density/Intensity Alternative, Project components, such as square footage, residential units, and hotel rooms would be reduced by 25 percent over what is proposed under the Project.
CEQA requires that the EIR identify an "environmentally superior" alternative that would be expected to generate the least amount of significant impacts. CEQA also requires that if the No Project Alternative is selected as the environmentally superior alternative, the EIR must identify the environmentally superior alternative among the remaining alternatives. The Draft EIR identified the Reduced Density/Intensity Alternative as the environmentally superior alternative after the No Project Alternative. It is further noted that the No Project Alternative would not meet the stated objectives of the project, which are to provide an economically viable and vibrant mixed-use development.
The following alternatives were considered infeasible and therefore were not further analyzed as alternatives in the EIR:
· Off-Site Alternative. Under the Off-Site Alternative, the Project would be constructed at an off-site location. Due to the nature of the Project, which consists of redeveloping a previously developed shoreline, which is currently underutilized, this alternative would not provide the same opportunity for new development.
· Hotel Removal Alternative. Under the Hotel Removal Alternative, the Project would not include construction of a new 200-room hotel. This alternative was considered given the number of hotels in the area of Oakland Airport, but as determined in the urban decay analysis (included in Appendix B), the inclusion of the hotel would not result in urban decay. As a result, removal of the hotel would not reduce a potentially significant impact. Additionally, this alternative does not meet the objectives of the Project.
Summary of Public Outreach Efforts
The San Leandro Shoreline Development Project Draft Environmental Impact Report was released on December 9, 2014 and will be available for a 60-day public review period through February 6, 2015. Additional opportunities to provide public comment have been made at the following public meetings:
· Shoreline Advisory Committee meeting, January 14, 2015
· Planning Commission public hearing, January 15, 2015
Legal Analysis
The City Attorney's Office has reviewed and commented upon the San Leandro Shoreline Development Project Draft Environmental Impact Report.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the City Council take public testimony on the San Leandro Shoreline Draft EIR and provide comments to staff on the Draft EIR.
ATTACHMENTS
Draft San Leandro Shoreline Development Project EIR by Chapter:
· Table of Contents
· 1 - Executive Summary
· 2 - Introduction
· 3 - Project Description
· 4 - Environmental Analysis
o 4.1 - Aesthetics
o 4.2 - Air Quality
o 4.3 - Biological Resources
o 4.4 - Cultural Resources
o 4.5 - Geology, Soils, and Seismicity
o 4.6 - Greenhouse Gas Emissions
o 4.7 - Hazards and Hazardous Materials
o 4.8 - Hydrology and Water Quality
o 4.9 - Land Use and Planning
o 4.10 - Noise
o 4.11 - Population and Housing
o 4.12 - Public Services and Recreation
o 4.13 - Transportation and Traffic
o 4.14 - Utilities and Service Systems
· 5 - Significant Unavoidable Impacts
· 6 - Alternatives to the Project
· 7 - CEQA Mandated Sections
· 8 - Organizations and Persons Consulted
· Appendix A - Notice of Preparation (NOP) and NOP Comment Letters
· Appendix B - Urban Decay Analysis
· Appendix C - Shade Shadow Analysis
· Appendix D - Air Quality and Green House Gas Background Modeling Data
· Appendix E - Health Risk Assessment
· Appendix F - San Leandro Marina Opportunities Constraints Analysis
· Appendix G - Noise Monitoring Data
· Appendix H - Traffic Impact Analysis with Appendices
· Appendix I - Water Supply Assessment (WSA) Request and WSA
PREPARED BY: Sally Barros, Principal Planner, Community Development Department