Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Deborah Bazan, Director of Project Development Unit
Subject: Certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the County Government Center Campus Project pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); Adoption of Statement of Overriding Considerations.
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution certifying the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the County Government Center Campus Development Project as complete and adequate pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act; and adopt a Statement of Overriding Considerations related to an environmental impact identified in the FEIR that cannot be mitigated to less than significant.
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BACKGROUND:
The proposed County Government Center Campus Development Project (Project) includes, but is not limited to, construction of: (1) a County Office Building 3 (COB3); (2) a County Parking Structure 2 (PS 2); and (3) a County Center Promenade and Plaza (Promenade).
COB 3 will be located at the site directly east of the Hall of Justice, bordered by Marshall Street to the South and Middlefield Road to the east. Based on current concept design, it is anticipated that COB 3 will be an elevated structure, approximately 186,000 square feet (SF) in size, house four levels of office and common space, and stand six stories, with a portion of the sculptured roof reaching a maximum height of 112 feet. The ground level will consist of outdoor public space with a large enclosed multi-function chambers for meetings of the Board of Supervisors and other County boards and commissions. The building footprint will utilize a significant portion of the site, requiring relocation of the Lathrop House, demolition of the vacant First American Title Company and Lebsack building, and possible demolition of the Superior Court Traffic and Small Claims Building. It is anticipated that COB 3 will be occupied by 612 County employees, approximately 300 of whom will be relocating from the Health System Campus.
Parking Structure 2 will be located at the corner of Veterans Boulevard and Middlefield Road, immediately to the north of the existing County parking structure. Based on current concept design, it is anticipated that PS 2 will be 5-7 levels and contain approximately 1110 stall parking spaces.
The Project also includes design and construction of a County Center Promenade and Plaza along Hamilton Street, which would be closed to vehicle traffic within the County Center. The Promenade would extend south from the proposed new parking structure to Marshall Street. Creation of the Promenade would create open space for County employees and public use, while connecting the new development to existing campus buildings.
Consistent with the County Municipal Green Building Policy, and in keeping with the County’s goal of demonstrating leadership in sustainability, COB 3 and PS 2 will be designed to operate at Zero Net Energy (ZNE) and to achieve certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
DISCUSSION:
Consistent with the CEQA Guidelines set forth in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) focuses on the potentially significant direct and indirect environmental impacts that could result from implementation of the proposed project. These potential impacts are outlined in the FEIR, available at https://bit.ly/2x9Df6D <https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/POgeCBBXPocPK4Qrt6f1q-> and are summarized below.
A Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the EIR was published on September 15, 2017, soliciting comment on the scope and content of the County’s environmental review for the Project. The comment period closed on October 15, 2017. Six comment letters were received in response to the NOP and are included in Appendix A to the Draft EIR. In addition, the County held a public scoping meeting on November 6, 2017 to invite public comments on the scope of the EIR for the Project. Public notice of the scoping meeting was distributed to residents of properties adjacent to the proposed Project sites, homeowner and neighborhood associations, local community agencies, and interest groups. Notice was also published in the newspaper of local circulation. Three written comment cards were received at the public meeting and are included in Draft EIR Appendix A. The County made a presentation on February 8, 2018 to Redwood City’s Historic Resources Advisory Committee regarding the Lathrop House relocation.
The Draft EIR became available for public review and comment for 45 days beginning January 18, 2018 and ending on March 5, 2018.
In addition, a Study Session and Public Hearing were held with your Board on March 5, 2018 to receive further comment on the Draft EIR. There were 2 comments received.
The EIR identified the following categories of potentially significant environmental impacts associated with the Project: air quality, climate change, biology, cultural/tribal/historical resources, noise, and traffic.
The EIR identifies mitigation measures that are incorporated into the Project. Mitigation measures identified in the EIR include the following, among others:
• utilize on-site electrical hook-ups instead of diesel powered equipment where feasible
• adherence to relevant California Fish and Game Code requirements relating to bird and bat nesting
• preservation of trees
• incorporate renewable energy
• careful preparation of Lathrop House prior to relocation
• providing archaeological and paleontological sensitivity training for designated individuals working on the Project
• noise reduction
• traffic demand management measures
Adoption of the resolution includes adoption of a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Plan (Exhibit A to the resolution) which will ensure project compliance with all mitigation measures identified in the EIR.
With the mitigation measures identified in the EIR, all potentially significant impacts of the Project would be reduced to a less-than-significant level, except for one impact that may be significant and is unavoidable: a significant traffic impact under the Background plus Project condition at the Main Street/Woodside Road Westbound Ramp intersection.
The EIR concluded that signalization of the Main/Woodside Road Westbound Ramp intersection will effectively mitigate the identified impact, but the subject intersection is under the jurisdiction of the City of Redwood City (the City), rather than the County. Therefore, the City is the agency responsible for signalization improvements at this intersection.
While signalization of this intersection is on the City’s list of projects to be paid for with its Traffic Impact Fee, it was only recently added to the list and is not prioritized to be carried out. Therefore, payment of a “fair share” Traffic Impact Fee to Redwood City would not itself result in the implementation of signalization or any other effective mitigation measure at the Main Street/Woodside Road intersection in the foreseeable future and thereby mitigate or substantially lessen the projected Project impact to less than significant levels.
Because the Project includes an environmental impact that cannot be mitigated to a less than significant level, pursuant to CEQA, the resolution certifying the FEIR incorporates a Statement of Overriding Considerations (Exhibit B to the resolution), which identifies the benefits of the proposed project that outweigh the unavoidable adverse environmental impact.
As noted above, the County received multiple comment letters in response to the Draft EIR, and has prepared responses to all comments as required by CEQA. The comment letters and responses are included as chapters 3 and 4, respectively, of the FEIR.
CEQA anticipates that the public review process may elicit information that results in modification of project design and refined impact analysis to reduce potential environmental effects of a project. As provided in CEQA Guidelines Section 15088.5, when significant new information is added to the EIR after public noticing of the Draft EIR, the EIR must be recirculated to give the public a meaningful opportunity for review. Significant new information is defined as 1) a new significant environmental impact, 2) a substantial increase in the severity of an environmental impact requiring new mitigation, or 3) a feasible project alternative or mitigation measure considerably different from those previously analyzed that would clearly reduce environmental impacts.
However, EIR recirculation is not required where new information merely clarifies or amplifies or makes insignificant modifications in an adequate EIR. The Final EIR included the following modifications to the Draft EIR:
• Additional information that clarifies and amplifies the Project background setting and description, and analysis.
• Text changes clarifying the analysis, making minor text corrections, or fixing grammatical or typographic errors.
Those revisions do not constitute material changes in the Project description, environmental setting, conclusions of the environmental analysis, or in the mitigation requirements incorporated into the Project or otherwise provide significant new information that would require recirculation of the Draft EIR pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15088.5.
By separate resolution, on June 5, 2018, the Board will consider authorizing the Director of the Project Development Unit, or his/her designee to execute an agreement for Construction Manager at Risk Services with Truebeck Construction for the County Office Building 3 and Parking Structure 2. Approval of that resolution will, in this instance, constitute approval of the Project.
County Counsel has reviewed and approved the resolution as to form.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Adoption of the resolution by the Board of Supervisors would result in no fiscal impact.