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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC RES 03-028RESOLUTION NO.03-28 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, CERTIFYING A FINAL SUBSEQUENT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT (SEIR) FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE DESERT GATEWAY COMMERCIAL CENTER LOCATED AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF MONTEREY AVENUE AND DINAH SHORE DRIVE. CASE NOS. PP 01-30, TT 30502. DA 92-3 RESTATED. SEIR WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Palm Desert, California, did on the 23rd day of January, 2003, which was continued to February 13, 2003, and February 27, 2003, hold a duly noticed public hearing to consider the request of Riley/Carver, LLC, for consideration of the above -mentioned SEIR; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission has recommended certification by adoption of its Resolution No.2176 ; and WHEREAS, a Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) was prepared for the "Desert Gateway" project to address the environmental effects, mitigation measures and project alternatives associated with the proposed project known as "Desert Gateway"; and WHEREAS, the SEIR for "Desert Gateway" was prepared pursuant to the requirements of California Environmental Quality Act (hereinafter ACEQA© Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq), the State CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations Section 15000 et seq hereinafter "Guidelines"); and WHEREAS, written comments on the Notice of Preparation were received and incorporated into the SEIR for "Desert Gateway"; and WHEREAS, written comments on the SEIR for "Desert Gateway" were received from the public during and after the public review period; and WHEREAS, such comments were responded to through a response to comments and submitted to the City Council; and WHEREAS, the City Council has reviewed all environmental documentation comprising the SEIR for "Desert Gateway", considered any oral communication made at the public hearing, and has found that the SEIR considers all environmental effects of the proposed project and is complete and adequate and fully complies with all requirements of CEQA and the Guidelines; and RESOLUTION NO. 03-28 WHEREAS, Section 21081 of CEQA and Section 15090 of the Guidelines require that the City Council make one or more of the following findings prior to approval of a project for which an SEIR has been completed identifying one or more significant effects of the project, along with statements of facts supporting each finding: FINDING 1: Changes or alterations have been required in, or incorporated into, the project which mitigate or avoid the significant environmental effects thereof as identified in the SEIR. FINDING 2: Such changes or alterations are within the responsibility and jurisdiction of another public agency and not the agency making the finding. Such changes have been adopted by such other agency or can and should be adopted by such other agency. FINDING 3: Specific economic, social or other considerations make infeasible the mitigation measures or project alternatives identified in the SEIR; and WHEREAS, the mitigation measures included in the SEIR are designed to reduce or eliminate the environmental impacts described herein. Mitigation measures are structured according to the criteria in Section 15370 of the CEQA Guidelines. This section provides generally that "mitigation" includes: a) avoidance of an impact; b) minimization of an impact; c) rectifying an impact by restoration; d) reducing or eliminating an impact overtime by preservation and maintenance operations; and e) compensating for the impact by replacing or providing substitute resources or environments. Additionally, mitigation measures have been drafted to meet the requirement of Public Resources Code Section 21081.6, a monitoring program. In most cases herein, the drafting approach defines the following for each mitigation measure: 1. A time for performance. In each case, a time for performance of the mitigation, or review of the evidence that mitigation has taken place, is provided. The performance points selected are designed to ensure that impact related components of project implementation do not proceed without establishing that the mitigation is assured. 2. A responsible party supervising performance. In each case, a public official is named in the mitigation measure as responsible for ensuring that the mitigation is carried out. To guarantee that the mitigation measure will not be inadvertently overlooked in connection with the issuance of a later permit, the supervising public official is the official who grants the permit called for in the performance. 2 RESOLUTION NO. 03-28 3. Definition of mitigation. In each case (except where a mitigation, such as a geotechnical report, is a well-known procedure or term of art), the mitigation measure contains the criteria for mitigation, either in the form of adherence to certain adopted regulations or identification of the steps to be taken in mitigation. To further facilitate the monitoring of these measures during project implementation, each measure has been drafted in a manner suitable for use as a condition of approval. It is anticipated that the mitigation measures herein may be used without additional monitoring report requirements, as each measure is designed to be self-executing. The City of Palm Desert is implementing a monitoring program as identified in the SEIR in accordance with State Mandate Section 21086 of the Public Resources Code. WHEREAS, Section 15093(a) of the Guidelines require the City Council to balance the benefits of a proposed project against its unavoidable environmental risks in determining whether to approve the project; and WHEREAS, Section 15093(a) requires that, where the decision of the City Council allows the occurrence of significant effects which are identified in the SEIR but are not mitigated, the City Council must state in writing the reasons to support its action based on the SEIR or other information in the record. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT: 1. The City Council hereby certifies the SEIR for the "Desert Gateway" project as adequate and complete in that it addresses all environmental effects of the proposed Commercial Shopping Center and fully complies with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act and the Guidelines. Said SEIR is composed of the following elements: a. Draft SEIR for "Desert Gateway" b. Appendices to Draft SEIR c. Comments received on SEIR and responses to those comments d. Resolution of Certification and Findings e. All attachments, incorporation and references delineated in items a. through d. above. 3 RESOLUTION NO, 03-2s All of the above information has been, and will be, on file with the City of Palm Desert, Community Development Department, 73-510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, California 92260. 2. This City Council adopts the Findings with respect to each environmental effect identified in the SEIR and the explanation of its rationale with respect to each such finding set forth in the document entitled "Statement of Findings" attached hereto and marked as Exhibit A and made a part hereof. PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Palm Desert City Council, held on this 27th day of February , 2003, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: KELLY, SPIEGEL, BENSON NOES: CRITES, FERGUSON ABSENT: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE JE SON, Mayor ATTEST: RACF4ELLE D. KLASSEN, City Clerk STh City of Palm Desert, California 4 RESOLUTION NO. 03-28 EXHIBIT A STATEMENT OF FINDINGS THE FOLLOWING FINDINGS have been prepared based upon the Initial Study, Addendum and special studies prepared in the course of assessing the "Desert Gateway" project. A. Access issues associated with the subject properties are not affected by the subject action, and remain civil issues between private property owners. B. An Initial Study and Addendum was prepared in accordance with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), supported by special studies prepared on the subject and adjoining lands for the Crest project. C. It was determined based upon the evidence available, that the proposed action will have no significant adverse effect on the subject lands or the environment. 5