3B Public Hearing 2013 0401 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Excerpts from the Board of Zoning Adjustments Regular Meeting Minutes February 7, 2013 Page 10 of 17 Motion to Extend Mr. Berger’s Presentation Time Daly/Mendieta: 4 Ayes, 0 Noes Mr. Berger said when any fair argument can be made that a project may have environmental impacts, both CEQA rules and cases that have interpreted CEQA clearly state that an EIR must be ordered. He said the very questions raised by BZA members are ones members of the HOA brought up. He criticized the studies cited as being years old and conducted in envir onments very different from San Leandro’s. If staff had ordered an EIR in the first place, almost eight months ago, the process would be finished by now, he said. Instead, the City invested the time, money and effort in showing why no EIR is necessary. Mr. Berger added, for the record, that he received additional staff comments just four days ago. Despite what the photo simulations depict, Mr. Berger said everyone in Heron Bay and on the Bay Trail will see a 10-story billboard for Halus. He said turbines belong in non-residential, rural areas where they don’t affect anyone. He said, too, that the MND ignores the issue of private property and aesthetic values, both of which the courts support and both of which demand an EIR and scientific evidence. He pointed out that the staff recommendations fail to address the important issue of what happens with the wind turbine if Halus leaves the site, and asked why staff puts the interest of one business ahead of the interests of 629 homeowners. Mike Katz, 46 Estabrook Street, described Mr. Berger’s scare tactics as “very entertaining.” He said we’re talking about a windmill on a piece of property that is zoned for industrial use – which is neither in the marsh nor on sensitive environment land. As a regular user of the Bay Trail, he said the most prominent features there are the 12-story-tall electric towers between the Heron Bay development and the Bay, followed by the regular aircraft landings. He said the aircraft are about 16 times louder than the wind turbine. Mr. Katz said there have been plenty of studies, including one in December 2009 by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that looked at the effect of wind turbines on nearby home prices and found no correlation. He also cited a January 2012 study for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and Massachusetts Department of Public Health that documented no epidemiologically significant impacts of noise from wind turbines on nearby populations. Encouraging the BZA to grant the variance requested, Mr. Katz asked them to think about the scientific documentation and not what people’s fears are generating. This is not a wind-farm project, he said, but a project by a company in the business of refurbishing wind turbines and another similar company would want the same. Mr. Katz said he supports the requirement for monitoring effects on avian life, but he cited domestic cats, electrical power lines and communication towers as more dangerous to birds than a wind turbine. He cited a University of Southern California study released in April 2012 that documented seven million annual bird kills by the communication towers we rely on for cellular phone and TV service. Mr. Katz said that having an EIR would not be a bad thing, but in this case he considers it inappropriate. David Johnson, 120 Estudillo Avenue, is President and CEO of the San Leandro Chamber of Commerce. Speaking in that capacity and as a representative of the Chamber Board of Directors, he stated that Halus gives San Leandro the opportunity to set a standard and grow a sophisticated company. He said he understands the fears, but is concerned that those fears have been stoked around issues that aren’t real and have nothing to do with the adjacent residential area. He s aid all sorts of issues, as Mr. Katz mentioned, about electrical towers and aircraft noise, also come into play. He pointed out that the average person-to-person conversation is in the same decibel range as what the wind turbine would generate, and that would be only when it’s running. He said we must