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SAN LEANDRO GENERAL PLAN UPDATE FINAL EIR CITY OF SAN LEANDRO COMMENTS AND RESPONSES one commenter addressed historic preservation policies in detail, but did not comment on the Draft EIR's analysis of historic resources. It is important for the City in its decision-making process to consider both the adequacy of the Draft EIR and the merits of the proposed project. However, the City as Lead Agency is only required by CEQA to respond in its Final EIR to comments on pertinent environmental issues related to the adequacy of the Draft EIR. Section 15204 of the CEQA Guidelines provides direction for parties reviewing and providing comment on a Draft EIR, as follows: In reviewing draft EIRs, persons and public agencies should focus on the sufficiency of the document in identifying and analyzing the possible impacts on the environment and ways in which the significant effects of the project might be avoided or mitigated. Section 15204 continues in relation to the role of the Lead Agency in responding to comments on the Draft EIR: When responding to comments, lead agencies need only respond to significant environmental issues and do not need to provide all information requested by reviewers, as long as a good faith effort at full disclosure is made in the EIR. Where comments in Table 5-1 refer to the merits of the project, the response indicates that the comment does not address the adequacy of the Draft EIR and cross references to this Master Response. In addition to the comment letters included in Table 5-1, the City received several letters that pertain only to the merits of the proposed project. This may be because the Draft San Leandro 2035 General Plan and Draft EIR were released at the same time. However, there is no formal public review or responses -to -comments process for comments on the Draft General Plan (or zoning amendments). Instead, comments on the merits of the project are included in the administrative record, and are available for review at City Hall during normal business hours. These letters are listed in Chapter 4 of this Final EIR and are included in Appendix I. Issues raised in the comments on the merits of the proposed General Plan and zoning amendments may also be addressed in the staff reports prepared for public hearings on the proposed project. The majority of these comments pertain to the proposed Zoning Code amendments and related land use policy issues. The City notes that in some cases, the proposed project has been revised to reflect suggestions contained in the public comments on the merits that the City received. Although comments related to the merits of the proposed project do not require responses in the Final EIR, they do provide important input to the decision-making process. All letters received during the public comment period will be forwarded to decision makers. 5-2 AUGUST 2016