Reso 2010-035 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

EXPLANATION: a) Adoption of the Housing Element itself will not violate any water quality standards or waste discharge requirements. The Element is a policy document that would not increase the level of housing production beyond what is already permitted by the 2002 San Leandro General Plan and 2007 TOD Strategy. The impacts of that level of housing production on water quality have already been analyzed in the environmental impact reports for those two plans, and mitigation measures have already been prescribed and are in effect. General Plan policies 32.01 through 32.08 all provide program-level guidance to mitigate potential water quality impacts. Implementation of the Housing Element would not exceed waste discharge requirements established by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, and would not violate the NPDES Permit for stormwater discharge. As appropriate, individual development projects will be subject to environmental review and project-specific measures may be required to mitigate water quality impacts. b) The Housing Element would not impact groundwater recharge areas or have an impact on the water table. All of its proposals are consistent with the 2002 General Plan and 2007 TOD Strategy. The impacts of these two plans on groundwater were analyzed in previous EIRs and mitigation measures have already been prescribed in the form of policies and action programs. General Plan Policy 32.10 protects San Leandro's groundwater from the potential adverse effects of urban uses, and will remain in effect for the duration of the Housing Element planning period. c) The updated Housing Element would enable continued development on vacant and underutilized properties, which could in turn lead to greater amounts of stormwater runoff and increased impervious surface area. However, the RHNA assignment (1,630 units) is well within the margin of development that was previously analyzed by TOD Strategy and General Plan EIRs. Each of these EIRs included mitigation measures to reduce potential development impacts on stormwater drainage. The General Plan itself includes policies to minimize siltation and erosion from construction, and recommends the use of best management practices on individual development sites. Depending on site location and project attributes, additional environmental review and compliance with applicable regulations may be required for individual development proposals in the future. d) There would be no alteration of drainage patterns as a result of Housing Element adoption, and no increased risk of flooding. Drainage impacts were analyzed in the EIRs for the General Plan and TOD Strategy and the Housing Element does not propose development beyond the levels analyzed by those documents. The housing sites are generally located on sites where drainage impacts can be fully mitigated by connecting to the City's storm drain system. In addition, the Housing Element supports green roofs, rain gardens, and other forms of low impact development which would retain a greater quantity of stormwater on-site. These policies maybe applied to existing development as well as proposed development, resulting in net environmental benefits. e) See Response "d" above. The Housing Element by itself will not contribute runoff that would exceed the capacity of existing or planned storm drainage systems. Future development may have impacts on runoff, but these impacts have been analyzed in the General Plan EIR and the TOD Strategy EIR. Policies and actions in the General Plan reduce the severity of potential impacts. Future development will be subject to environmental review and may be required to conduct additional analysis and mitigation of runoff impacts. f) There would be no additional impact on water quality beyond those described above. No increases in development above what was anticipated by the General Plan and TOD Strategy would occur as a result of Housing Element adoption. Consistent with the San Leandro General Plan, the Alameda County Clean Water Program, and the City's engineering design standards, all future housing projects will be required to incorporate best management practices (BMPs) to reduce water quality impacts. BMPs are typically prescribed at the time that specific developments are proposed and reflect the characteristics of each site and project. g) Only one of the 86 sites identified in the Housing Element is located in a 100 year flood plain. The site corresponds to the surface parking lots around the Bayfair BART station. According to FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Maps, portions of this site are in Zone AH which is defined as having water depths of 1 to 3 feet in a 100-year flood. The remainder of the site is in Zone X, which is the 500-year flood plain. The site is designated for public use in the General Plan. Due to its proximity to BART, the Housing Element recommends that it be considered a suitable site for high density housing. Action 53.01-B in the proposed Housing Element recommends that consideration be given to amending the General Plan designation for this site from "Public" to indicate the city's intent to pursue high density mixed use development in the future. Any subsequent General Plan Amendment would be subject to further study and CEQA review, including an evaluation of flooding impacts and mitigation measures. No other flood-related impacts are expected Housing Element Initial Study and Negative Declaration ] 2 February 2010