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Home My WebLink AboutRES 2022-105RESOLUTION NO. 2022-105 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING A NOTICE OF EXEMPTION UNDER THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) APPROVING A SUMMARY VACATION FOR A PORTION OF THE RESTRICTED ACCESS EASEMENT LYING WITHIN PARCELS 6 AND 7 OF PARCEL MAP 36792 LOCATED NORTH OF GERALD FORD DRIVE, APPROXIMATELY 750 FEET WEST OF TECHNOLOGY DRIVE WHEREAS, the City Council did, on the 26th day of March 2015, adopted Ordinance 1281 approving the Millennium Palm Desert Specific Plan, Development Agreement 14-332, and adopting a Mitigated Negative Declaration for the project site; and WHEREAS, the Riverside County Assessor Clerk Recorder’s office did, on the 16th day of July 2015, record Parcel Map No. 36792 per Instrument Number 2015-0312202; and WHEREAS, said Parcel Map No. 36792 provides under the owner’s statement that an access rights restriction is in place for parcels that front on Gerald Ford Drive, including Parcels 6 and 7 of the map (“Parcels”); and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission did, on the 15th day of March 2022, adopt Planning Commission Resolution No. 2809 approving the Millennium Apartments Development on Planning Area 7 of the Millennium Palm Desert Specific Plan; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission may recommend that the City Council vacate all or part of a street, highway, or public service easement pursuant to the Public Streets, Highways, and Service Easements Vacation Law (California Streets & Highways Code, § 8300 et seq.); and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission did, on the 15th day of November 2022, adopt Planning Commission Resolution No. 2824 recommending approval of a summary vacation to the City Council; and WHEREAS, the summary vacation proceedings are to be conducted pursuant to the provisions in sections 8330 through 8336, Chapter 4 of Part 3, Division 9, entitled “Summary Vacation” of the California Streets and Highways Code; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that the Excess Right-of-Way (ROW) does not serve a public benefit; and Resolution No. 2022-105 Page 2 WHEREAS, the Excess ROW satisfies the criteria for summary vacation pursuant to Sections 8331, 8333, 8344, and 8334.5 of the California Streets and Highways Code the Excess ROW (1) has not been paved and has not been used for the past five (5) consecutive years for vehicular travel, and no public money has been used for its maintenance; (2) has been determined to be excess by the City and there are no other public facilities located within it; (3) is not required for street or highway purposes; and (4) does not contain public utility facilities that are in use or would be affected by the vacation; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Government Code section 65402(a), the City Council of the City of Palm Desert must review the proposed vacation of the Excess ROW is consistent with the City’s General Plan and conforms with the Palm Desert General Plan; and WHEREAS, under Section 21067 of the Public Resources Code, Section 15367 of the State CEQA Guidelines (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, § 15000 et seq.), and the City of Palm Desert’s (“City’s”) Local CEQA Guidelines, the City is the lead agency for the Project; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Palm Desert, California, did on the 15th day of December 2022, hold a duly noticed public hearing to consider the request for approval of the above-noted Project request; and WHEREAS, at the said public hearing, upon hearing and considering all testimony and arguments, if any, of all interested persons desiring to be heard, the Planning Commission did find the following facts and reasons, which are outlined in the staff report, exist to justify approval of said request: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Palm Desert, California, as follows: SECTION 1. Recitals. The City Council hereby finds that the foregoing recitals are true and correct and are incorporated herein as substantive findings of this Resolution. SECTION 2. General Plan Conformity. The City Council finds that the summary vacation of the Excess ROW is in conformance with the City’s General Plan because the Excess ROW does not serve a public benefit and is appropriate for summary vacation because the Excess ROW (1) has not been paved and has not been used for the past five (5) consecutive years for vehicular travel, and no public money has been used for its maintenance; (2) has been determined to be excess by the City and there are no other public facilities located within it; (3) is not required for street or highway purposes; and (4) does not contain public utility facilities that are in use or would be affected by the vacation. The summary vacation of the Excess ROW is consistent with the General Plan Land Circulation. Resolution No. 2022-105 Page 3 SECTION 3. California Streets and Highways Code. The Excess ROW (1) has not been paved, has not been used for the past five (5) consecutive years for vehicular travel, and no public money has been used for its maintenance; (2) has been determined to be excess by the City and there are no other public facilities located within it; (3) is not required for street or highway purposes; and (4) does not contain public utility facilities that are in use or would be affected by the vacation; and SECTION 4. CEQA Findings. Based upon its review of the record, the City Council hereby finds and determines that the Project has complied with the requirements of the "City of Palm Desert Procedure for Implementation of CEQA” Resolution No. 2019 -41 and the City Council has concluded that the Project will not have a significant impact on the environment and that the Project is categorically exempt under Article 19, Section 15303 New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures (Class 3) of the State CEQA Guidelines. The Project is for the vacation of an access rights easement and is consistent with the General Plan circulation designation and applicable General Plan policies, as well as applicable Millennium Palm Desert Specific Plan and regulations. The Project site has been previously graded and has no value as a habitat for endangered, rare, or threatened species. Project approval would not result in the possibility of significant cumulative impacts upon the environment. The site is adequately served by all required utilities and public services. Furthermore, none of the exceptions to the use of the Class 5 categorical exemption identified in State CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 apply. The Project is not located in a particularly sensitive environment and will not impact an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern. It is situated adjacent to an approved multifamily development. The Project will not result in a cumulative impact from successive Projects of the same type in the same place over time. There are no unusual circumstances surrounding the Project that result in a reasonably possibility of a significant effect on the environment. The Project will not damage scenic resources, including trees, historic buildings, rock outcroppings, or similar resources. The Project does not include any hazardous waste sites, and the Project will not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. Thus, the Class 5 exemption applies, and no further environmental review is required. SECTION 5. Custodian of Records. The documents and materials that constitute the record of proceedings on which these findings are based are located at the City’s office at 73510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92260. Anthony J. Mejia, MMC, the City Clerk of the City of Palm Desert is the custodian of the record of proceedings. Resolution No. 2022-105 Page 4 SECTION 6. Execution of Resolution. The Mayor signs this Resolution and the City Clerk shall attest and certify to the passage and adoption thereof. ADOPTED ON DECEMBER 15, 2022. KATHLEEN KELLY MAYOR ATTEST: ANTHONY J. MEJIA CITY CLERK I, Anthony J. Mejia, City Clerk of the City of Palm Desert, hereby certify that Resolution No. 2022-105 is a full, true, and correct copy, and was duly adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Desert on December 15, 2022, by the following vote: AYES: HARNIK, NESTANDE, QUINTANILLA, TRUBEE, AND KELLY NOES: NONE ABSENT: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE RECUSED: NONE IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Palm Desert, California, on _____________________. ANTHONY J. MEJIA CITY CLERK Kathleen Kelly (Dec 21, 2022 15:49 PST) Kathleen Kelly Anthony Mejia (Dec 21, 2022 15:52 PST) Anthony Mejia (Dec 21, 2022 15:52 PST) Dec 21, 2022