2006/05/23 City Council Resolution (11)RESOLUTION NO. 2006- 141
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROHNERT
PARK, CALIFORNIA, CERTIFYING THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT REPORT FOR THE UNIVERSITY DISTRICT SPECIFIC PLAN
WHEREAS, the applicants, University District LLC and Vast Oak Properties
L.P., ( "Applicants "), propose to develop property currently within Sonoma County's
jurisdiction, contiguous to the City of Rohnert Park's easterly boundaries, and within the
City's Local Agency Formation Commission approved Sphere of Influence; and
WHEREAS, Applicants submitted an application to the City of Rohnert Park
proposing annexation of the Project and approval of a specific plan, referred to as the
University District Specific Plan (the "Project ") that encompasses approximately 297
acres and proposed 25 estate residential units, 318 low density residential units, 537
medium density residential units, 630 high density residential units, 100 mixed -use units,
up to 250,000 square feet of commercial uses including a 100 -room hotel; and
WHEREAS, certain refinements were subsequently agreed to by the applicants,
reflecting a reduction in project size, including substitution of some residential over retail
uses in the commercial core and elimination of some commercial square footage, for a
total of 1,645 residential units, plus 126 attached second units, up to 175,000 sq -ft of
commercial building area (without a hotel but including up to 55,000 square foot grocery
store); and
WHEREAS, the City retained Jones & Stokes, a well - qualified environmental
consulting firm, to prepare an environmental impact report ( "EIR ") for the proposed
Project; and
WHEREAS, the City of Rohnert Park, acting as the Lead Agency under the
California Environmental Quality Act ( "CEQA "), published a Notice of Preparation
( "NOP ") of a Draft EIR for the proposed Project on December 1, 2003. The NOP was
distributed for a 30 -day comment period that ended on December 31, 2003. The City
held an agency and public scoping meeting on the proposed Project on December 11,
2003, and initiated work on a Draft EIR for the proposed Project; and
WHEREAS, the City completed the Draft EIR on July 26, 2005 and circulated it
to affected public agencies and interested members of the public for the required 45 day
public comment period from July 27, 2005 to September 12, 2005.
WHEREAS, the City's Planning Commission duly noticed and conducted a
public hearing on August 25, 2005 in order to receive comments on the Draft EIR; and
WHEREAS, portions of the draft EIR were recirculated for public review from
November 28, 2005, through January 11, 2006; and
WHEREAS, on April 3, 2006, the City published the Final EIR for the Project by
incorporating: 1) the Draft EIR; 2) comments received about the Draft EIR and
responses to those comments; 3) the recirculated EIR, comments received about the
recirculated portions of the Draft EIR and responses to those comments; 4) changes,
clarifications and corrections to the Draft EIR; and 5) appendices; and
WHEREAS, the City received a letter report from its EIR consultant dated April
26, 2006, that reflects that a peer review from the applicants' consultants have
documented that the proposed reduction in project size has not increased the number or
severity of potentially significant environmental impacts, and
WHEREAS, the City received an errata sheet from its EIR consultant on May 16,
2006, including information that was inadvertently left out of the Final EIR, attached as
Exhibit "A "; and
WHEREAS, Section 21000 et. seq. of the Public Resources Code and sections
15000 et seq. of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations (the CEQA Guidelines),
which govern the preparation, content, and processing of environmental impact reports,
have been fully implemented in the preparation of the EIR; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of
Rohnert Park makes the following findings and determinations with respect to the Final
EIR for the proposed Project:
1. The City Council has independently reviewed, analyzed and considered
the information contained in the Final EIR and all written documentation and public
comments; and
2. The Final EIR was prepared and completed in compliance with the
provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act ( "CEQA "), the State CEQA
Guidelines, and the City's local CEQA procedures; and
3. The information and analysis contained in the Final EIR reflects the City's
independent judgment and analysis as to the environmental consequences of the proposed
Project; and
4. The documents and other materials, including without limitation staff
reports, memoranda, maps, letters and minutes of all relevant meetings, which constitute
the administrative record of proceedings upon which the City Council's decision is based
are located at the City of Rohnert Park, Planning Department, 6750 Commerce
Boulevard, Rohnert Park, CA 94928. The custodian of records is the City's Director of
Community Development; and
5. The City Council hereby certifies the Final EIR, and directs the filing of a
Notice of Determination with the County Clerk; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that on the basis of the evidence contained in
the administrative record of the Final EIR, the City Council finds that the information
submitted following the conclusion of the public comment period on the Draft EIR,
recirculation of portions of the Draft EIR, following the consultant's responses thereto,
and upon review of the information relating to the impacts of the refinements proposed as
part of the Development Agreement subcommittee meetings, there is no significant new
information concerning the Project's environmental effects, feasible mitigation measure,
or feasible project alternatives; therefore there is no need or requirement to recirculate the
EIR for additional public comment.
DULY AND REGULARLY ADOPTED this 23"d day of May, 2006.
CITY OF ROHNERT PARK
Mayor
ATTEST:
~7
Deputy
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BREEZE: AYE FLORES: AYE MACKENZIE: AYE VIDAK- TINEZ: AYE SMITH: AYE
AYES: (5) NOES: (0) ABSENT: (0) ABS'T'AIN: (0)
City of Rohnert Park Text Changes to Draft EIR
EXHIBIT "A" TO EIR CERTIFICATION RESOLUTION
The following text should have been on page 2 -2 of the Final EIR Response to
Comments document, following the last bullet on that page preceding the section
labeled "Section 3.3, `Air Quality "'. Adding this text in to the document does
not change the conclusions of the EIR in any way.
The following text is added following first paragraph under "Adjacent Land Use" on
page 3.2 -3 of the draft EIR:
Adjacent Land Uses
Land uses adjacent to the project area include Creekside Middle School,
Redwood Park Estates, Kisco Wellness Center, "Y Section, Rancho Cotate High
School, SSU, and the Green Music Center (concert hall) to the southeast of the
project site.
Annexation of the 38.4 acre portion of the Cotati - Rohnert Park School District
property that contains the existing Creekside Middle School facility and two
parcels along Hinebaugh Creek owned by the SCWA that together total
approximately 0.4 acre is proposed along with annexation of the project site.
The following modifications to the text following the first line on page 3.2 -12 of the draft
EIR are made:
Errata
Final Environmental Impact Report
University District Specific Plan
Impact LUP -5: Compatibility with Existing or Future Adjacent Land Uscy
(Less than Significant)
The proposed project would be generally compatible with the existing and future
adjacent land uses. The range of large -lot and low -, medium -, and high- density
residential land uses proposed throughout the west half of the University District
Specific Plan area would be generally consistent in terms of density, building
scale, and character of the existing residential and commercial land uses
currently along the project's west border. Annexation of the 38.4 acre portion of
the Cotati - Rohnert Park School District property that contains the existing
Creekside Middle School facility and two parcels along Hinebaugh Creek
owned by the SCWA that together total approximately 0 4 acre is proposed
along with annexation of the project site. Annexation of these parcels would not
result in any changes in land use, as the school parcel is already developed as a
school and the SCWA parcels are portions of the flood control channel for
Hinebaugh Creek.
May 2006
J &S 03480.03