HomeMy WebLinkAboutRes No 1579PLANNING COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. 1579
A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, FINDING THAT
AN ADDENDUM TO THE PREVIOUSLY CERTIFIED FINAL
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT PREPARED FOR THE
ALTAMIRA COUNTRY CLUB IS COMPLETE AND
ADEQUATELY ADDRESSES THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
OF REVISED TENTATIVE TRACT MAP NO. 25296 AND
TENTATIVE PARCEL MAP NO. 27501 FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ALTAMIRA COUNTRY CLUB.
WHEREAS, the Final Environmental Impact Report for the
Altamira Country Club has been prepared to address the
environmental effects, mitigation measures, and project
alternatives associated with the construction of a 450 dwelling
unit project with associated golf course on a 352 acre site; and
WHEREAS, to assist in conducting the necessary CEQA review
pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21166 (CEQA Guidelines
Section.15162), the City has prepared an Expanded Initial Study.
It is on the basis of this document, incorporated herein by
reference, that the City makes the relevant findings for CEQA
compliance; and
WHEREAS, the Expanded Initial Study was prepared pursuant to
the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA), the CEQA Guidelines, and the City procedures for
implementing CEQA as an Addendum (CEQA Guidelines Section 15164) to
address entitlements for a revised Altamira Country Club project
including revised Tentative Tract Map No. 25296 and Tentative
Parcel Map No. 27501 for the development of 422 dwelling units and
an associated golf course on 344 acres in the City of Palm Desert;
and
WHEREAS, the City published a public notice in a newspaper of
general circulation on July 8, 1992, apprising the public of a
hearing on these projects; and
WHEREAS, the City also mailed notice to all property owners
within 300 feet of the proposed project; and
WHEREAS, this publication date and mailed notice exceeds state
and local requirements for the notification of public hearings; and
WHEREAS, all such notices contained an advisement of the
City's intent to find said previous Final EIR and Addendum adequate
to document the environmental attributes of the revised project,
and invited the public to examine said Expanded Initial Study and
Addendum in support of such finding; and
PLANNING COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. 1579
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission of the City of Palm Desert mot
conducted said public hearing to receive all testimony concerning
the revised project and associated environmental documentation; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission has reviewed all said
environmental documentation and has found that the Expanded Initial
Study and Addendum properly concludes that all environmental
effects of the revised project are adequately documented within the
aforementioned EIR; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission has examined with particular
care the potential effects peculiar to this project and the
adequacy of the performance of adopted mitigation measures, all as
set forth in the Expanded Initial Study and Addendum, and finds
that the Initial Study document is particularly response to the
actual environmental effects and public comments to date; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission incorporates this Expanded
Initial.Study and Addendum into this Resolution by reference as
facts in support of these findings; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission has adopted numerous
conditions of approval to continue to carry out the objectives of
the mitigation measures in the previous Final EIR; and
WHEREAS, Section 21166 of CEQA and Section 15162 of the CEQA
Guidelines provide that, where an EIR has been prepared, no new EIR
need be prepared unless there are changes in the project, its
underlying circumstances, or new information, which result in new
or more sever impacts than were originally documented in the EIR;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
1. The Certified Final EIR prepared for the Altamira Country Club
completely and adequately documents the development of the proposed
project.
2. On the basis of the Expanded Initial Study, most prominent
impacts, such as biological resources and land use, are reduced
over what was anticipated in the Certified Final EIR, either by a
lower intensity on the site itself, or by adjustments on land use
intensity on adjacent parcels.
3. The Initial Study contains substantial evidence supporting the
conclusion that impacts are not new or more severe than those
predicted in the Certified Final EIR, and that such evidence has
been carefully and independently reviewed by the technical
2
PLANNING COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. 1579
divisions of the City responsible for the accuracy of such
evidence.
4. The impacts presented by this project are equal to or less
severe overall than those realized by development consistent with
the approved project, and that this fact has been documented in the
Expanded Initial Study.
5. The Planning Commission has not been presented substantial and
credible evidence disputing the conclusions contained in the
Expanded Initial Study.
6. The Expanded Initial Study serves a valuable continuing
purpose in the planning process by presenting an even more current
representation of impacts. Since none of the conditions described
in Section 16162 of the CEQA Guidelines calling for a new EIR have
occurred, and since the information reported in the Expanded
Initial Study does not raise important new issues about the
significant effects on the environment, the Commission hereby finds
that this Expanded Initial Study shall be approved as an Addendum
to this previous Final EIR, pursuant to Section 15164 of the CEQA
Guidelines, in order to assure that the most contemporary
information is always available.
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Palm
Desert Planning Commission, held on this 21st day of July, 1992, by
the following vote, to wit:
AYES: DOWNS, RICHARDS, SPIEGEL
NOES: NONE
ABSENT: JONATHAN
ABSTAIN: WHITLOCK
i
CAROL WHITLOCK, Chairperson
ATTE
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RAMON A. DIAZ, cr ary
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