City Council - Regular Meeting

So everyone, I think we should maybe give it a few minutes, but we'll take down this presentation or the PowerPoint that's running right now. I think we should still run through the presentation. This is recording, and then we can post it on our website in case somebody wants to watch it later. Does that sound good?

Yeah, sounds like a good idea.

Okay. So our admin will take down this that's running right now at 5.01, and then we can roll with the other.

Okay.

Thank you, Jessica.

Would you guys like to start now? Would you like to give everyone another three minutes to join?

Maybe give it a couple more minutes. Sounds good.

Yeah, we're ready whenever. Just feel free to let us know.

Maybe 5.03.

I can go ahead and get started if you want.

Okay. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the scoping meeting for the Santa Rosa City Hall Development Agreement Supplemental Environmental Impact Report. My name is Alexis Brito, and I'm with EPD Solutions. EPD is assisting the City of Santa Rosa, which is the CEQA lead agency for this environmental review. The meeting tonight is focused on CEQA scoping, gathering input on the scope, and content of the focus supplemental EIR. The presentation is intended to give a brief overview of the project, explain why the city is preparing a focused supplemental EIR, and describe how comments can be provided during the NOP review period. This is not a hearing on whether to approve the development agreement, and we will not be discussing the merits of the project today. Next slide, please. I'll start with a short overview of the project and its location, then briefly explain the CEQA process and why the city is preparing a focused supplemental EIR instead of starting the entire downtown station area environmental review from scratch. The key environmental issue carried forward for detailed analysis is cultural resources. Specifically, potential impacts as historical resources associated with potential demolition. After the presentation, the city will open a meeting for oral scoping comments. Written comments can also be submitted during the notice of preparation review period. Next slide, please. Oral comments will be taken after the presentation. Participants using Zoom may select raise hand, and participants joining by telephone may press star nine. The moderator will call on speakers and prompt them to unmute. Written comments may also be submitted to the notice of preparation review period using the instructions detailed in the NOP you may have received. Next slide, please. The project site is located in downtown Santa Rosa within the Downtown Station Area Specific Plan, or DSASPS, it will be referred to moving forward. The city-owned properties involved in the SEEP review are 100 Santa Rosa Avenue, 90 Santa Rosa Avenue, 631 First Street, and 655 First Street. Collectively, the City Hall campus properties encompass approximately 7.57 gross acres. The development agreement concerns the portion of the City Hall campus proposed for conveyance, approximately 5.96 acres. The city would retain approximately 1.61 acres at 100 Santa Rosa Avenue for potential open space, park, recreational use, public access, flood control, or other public purpose. The schematic on the slide is only a simplified context diagram. It is not a site plan and does not depict a future specific development proposal. Next slide, please. The project for purposes of this sequel review is a developmental agreement between the city of Santa Rosa and Museum on the Square LLC. A development agreement is a tool that can provide assurances about vested development rights. In this case, rights to develop the city hall campus consistent with the downtown station area specific plan and applicable land use regulations. The important distinction is that no fixed site specific development proposal has been submitted. The development agreement identifies anticipated development and potential uses, including adoptive reuse and or redevelopment, but it does not establish the final mix of uses, configuration, extensive development, buildings retained, buildings adoptively reused, or buildings potentially removed. Future site-specific development would still need to comply with applicable downtown station area specific plan requirements and go through the city's subsequent review and approval process. Future redevelopment of the City Hall campus could include different outcomes, adoptive reuse, redevelopment, and or potential demolition. There is currently no site-specific development proposal identifying which buildings would be retained, reused, altered, or removed. Because those details have not been determined, the environmental review needs a conservative analytical scenario that captures the maximum reasonable foreseeable potential effect on historical resources. For that reason, the initial study and supplemental EIR will evaluate the potential demolition of all 13 existing buildings, totaling approximately 97,811 square feet of gross building area together with associated side improvements. This is not an environmental analysis assumption, or that is an environmental analysis assumption, apologies. It is not a determination that all 13 buildings will ultimately be demolished, and it is not an approval of a demolition plan.

Next slide, please.

The next slides will explain what an EIR does, why this document is a focused supplemental EIR, the historical resources being evaluated, and the remaining process.

Next slide.

An environmental impact report is an information and disclosure document. It describes the project and the existing setting, evaluates potential significant environmental effects, identifies feasible mitigation, and considers reasonable alternatives. The EIR informs the public and the city's decision makers, but the document itself does not approve the project. Next slide. The City Hall campus is located within the downtown station area specific plan. The DSASP has already been analyzed at the programmatic level in prior CEQA documents, including in the 2007 DSASP EIR and the 2020 DSASP subsequent EIR. The NOP and initial study were released concurrently. The current initial study evaluated the project against the CEQA Appendix G checklist, considered the prior DSASP analysis, and identified which topics require additional analysis for the development agreement. The issues carried forward for the focus supplemental EIR is cultural resources, specifically potential impacts to historical resources associated with potential demolition. The other environmental topics were evaluated in the initial study and determined not to require detailed analysis in the focused supplemental EIR. Supplemental EIR therefore supplements prior environmental review instead of repeating every topic already evaluated in the DSASP documents. The focused cultural resource analysis addresses historical resources associated with the City Hall campus. The Santa Rosa City Hall complex at 100 Santa Rosa Avenue contains 10 buildings totaling approximately 49,585 square feet, was constructed in 1969, and has been identified as an individually significant historic resource. It also contributes to the survey identified potential Civic Center Historic District. The City Hall Annex at 90 Santa Rosa Avenue was also constructed in 1969 and has not been identified as individually significant, but it has been identified as a contributor to the potential historic district. At 631 First Street, the project property contains approximately 10,936 square feet of gross building area. The Chamber Plaza has been identified as individually significant and as a contributor to the survey identified potential district. The building at 655 First Street was constructed in 1972 and is identified as a contributor to the potential district, but not as an individually significant historical resource. The focused supplemental EIR will address four main areas within the historical resource analysis. It will confirm the status and significance of the affected resources, evaluate potential effects associated with the demolition, alterations, or related changes, identify feasible mitigation measures, and consider reasonable alternatives that could avoid or reduce significant impacts. Next slide. The current stage is the 30-day notice of preparation and scoping review period. The city will use scoping comments to help define the draft supplemental EIR scope and content. After the draft supplemental EIR is prepared, it will be circulated for a separate 45-day public review period. Environmental comments received on the draft supplemental EIR will be addressed as part of the final supplemental EIR process. After that process is complete, the city will ultimately consider the CEQA document and the development agreement. This slide shows the overall CEQA environmental review process for the supplemental EIR. The city is currently in the notice of preparation and initial study and scoping stage. The scoping period is the first formal public input opportunity and is intended to help identify environmental issues, information, mitigation measures, and alternatives that should be considered in the draft supplemental EIR. After scoping, the team will prepare the focused draft supplemental EIR. That draft supplemental EIR will then be published for a separate 45-day public review period. The city will prepare responses to the environmental comments received during the draft supplemental EIR review period, prepare the final supplementary EIR, and then the city will consider the CEQA document and the development agreement at the future public hearings. Next slide, please. The remaining slides will explain the type of comments that are most helpful and the available opportunities to comment and the format for oral scoping comments tonight. The most useful scoping comments identify an environmental issue, provide relevant information, suggest mitigation, or identify a reasonable alternative that could reduce environmental effects. Comments do not need to be technical. Specific information about a resource, location, document, or a potential effect can help the city focus the draft supplemental EIR. Oral comments will be accepted during tonight's meeting. The written comments may be submitted during the notice of preparation review period using the instructions and deadline that were in the NOP. The draft supplemental EIR will later be circulated for the separate 45-day review period. Tonight's comments should focus on the scope and the content of the environmental analysis. Now I'd like to invite commentators to identify any environmental issues or resources of concerns that they may have, share supporting information or site-specific knowledge they may know, and suggest mitigation or alternatives when available. As a final reminder, please remember that the purpose of scoping is to inform the environmental analysis, not to debate or decide project approval. Thank you very much.

So just as a reminder, my name is Jessica Jones. I'm the Deputy Director of Planning here at the City of Santa Rosa. So I just wanted to remind those who are in attendance, if you have any comments related to the scoping of the supplemental EIR, to please raise your hand and we will allow you to speak. I am not seeing any hands raised. So maybe we can move on to how people can provide comments should they want to. Alexis, you're muted.

Apologies. This is the contact information that was provided in the NOP, so any written comments can be sent there as well through contact through phone number as well or email.

Okay.

If there are no comments, I think that is the end of our presentation. Is that correct, Alexis?

That is correct, Jessica. Yes.

OK, great. All right. So seeing no hands raised. So, yes, contact information, which is my contact information, is here on this slide. So folks can feel free to contact me via email or phone. And this presentation will be is being recorded and will be posted on our website. for anybody to view after this meeting. So I think that concludes. There are no comments. Okay. Thanks, everybody. And we will end the webinar.