3B Public Hearing 2007 0904 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Agenda No. 07-16 August 23, 2007 Page 3 of 19 Tim Hurley began with a review of key points about the TOD Strategy. Instead of just leaving the General Plan to do its job, the TOD Strategy looks further into the future within parameters that lay a policy foundation to facilitate the most responsible growth and development possible while accommodating evolving market trends, economic conditions and housing needs. Its primary guiding principles are smart growth and sustainability, not only parcel by parcel but city-wide. He noted that the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) has been a crucial - and "fantastic" - element of the TaD Strategy development, with 27 citizens from various walks of life creating the vision for this plan. The consultants, staff and technical advisers were the implementers of the vision that the CAC came up with. The urgency ordinance that postponed development within the TOD study area was put in place to allow the strategy to develop and to ensure that pipeline projects conform to the direction San Leandro wants to take. Strategy development was funded by Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority grants ($450,000 from MTC and $51,570 from ACTIA), which were awarded to San Leandro in part because of the proximity of the San Leandro BART Station to downtown and the AC Transit Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route planned along East 14th Street. In addition to the 10 CAC meetings over a period of some 18 months, there were three public workshops. Because the TaD Strategy development spanned an election, the former Mayor and former City Council members participated as well as the current Mayor and new Council members. Mr. Hurley described the TOD vision as one that sees downtown as a more vibrant, attractive and connected "destination" with lots of people, lots of retail, and lots of activities and opportunities for things to do and places to shop. The strategy sees the downtown area of the future as having an enhanced image and offering a nicer physical environment, with new architecture, new urban design and landscaping. It would be characterized by higher use of public transportation, greater numbers of retailers and employers, more residents with more housing options, increased safety and security, and additional development opportunities. As Mr. Hurley explained, the TOD Strategy is not a project per se, but a policy framework under which new projects may be undertaken over the next 30 years. Ted Heyd focused his part of the presentation on the development of the TaD Strategy Environmental Impact Report (EIR). It began with completion of the Draft EIR (DEIR) and the 45-day public review period required by CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act). Notice of the DEIR's availability at City offices and on the San Leandro website was mailed to previously identified interested parties on June 5, and was published in the Hayward Daily Review on June 9. During the review period (June 5 through July 19), the City received 11 comment letters from agencies, utility providers, local organizations and individuals. In addition, seven comments were made orally at the July 12 public hearing on the DEIR. As Secretary Livermore had indicated earlier, three comments came in after the comment period closed. The Final EIR (FEIR) includes five chapters: 1. Introduction - Explaining the purpose of the FEIR, this section discusses the environmental review process, and explains how the FEIR is organized. 2. Report Summary - Essentially a reprint from the DEIR, this differs only insofar as it uses underlining to draw attention to text added and strikethrough to indicate deleted text. It covers sections on: A) project under review; B) areas of controversy; C) significant impacts; D) mitigation measures; E) unavoidable