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HomeMy WebLinkAbout94-51RESOLUTION NO. 94-51 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF UKIAH APPROVING FINDINGS FOR APPROVAL OF MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION AND USE PERMIT APPLICATION NO. 93-32 KMART. WHEREAS, 1. On May 4, 1994, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 94-47, approving the mitigated negative declaration ("NegatiVe Declaration") and mitigation monitoring program for the KMart project and Resolution No. 90-48, approving the use permit for the KMart project ("Use Permit Resolution"); and 2. Said approvals were subject to findings to be considered and approved at the City Council meeting of May 18, 1994; and 3. The City Council has exercised its independent judgment in approving the Negative Declaration and has considered the findings set forth herein; and 4. The findings set forth the ultimate facts which the City Council finds to be true and the findings support the City Council's conclusions; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED as follows: 1. As conditioned in the Use Permit Resolution, the KMart Project, as described in the Negative Declaration, will not have any significant adverse environmental impacts, either by itself, or in combination with past, present and probable future projects, for the following reasons: a. Traffic impacts. The Traffic Impact Analysis, prepared by Barton-Aschman Associates, Inc., estimates that the KMart Project alone will generate 450 additional vehicle trips in the afternoon/evening peak hour. The study examined this impact on 9 intersections potentially affect by traffic increases resulting from the project. The Study increased these traffic impacts by the additional estimated vehicle trips at the affected intersections resulting from past, present and probable future projects including Lovers' Lane Specific Plan, Vichy Springs subdivision, Vichy Springs Rezone, Marlene Estates, Brookside Estates, Wal-Mart/Airport Business Park, and the Orchard Business Park. The study included the impact on the affected intersections of closing the easternmost section of Hospital Drive near Orchard Avenue. s:~u\docs94\kmar[1.fnd May !8, 1994 Without mitigation the intersection of Perkins and State Streets will operate at acceptable levels of service under all conditions. The Perkins/Orchard intersection and Gobbi/Orchard intersection will operate at LOS (level of service) D. Certain turning movements at Perkins St./South Bound (SB) U.S. 101 Ramps (NB left turn, NB through, SB left and SB through) will operate at LOS D through F. The NB turning movement at the Gobbi St./SB U.S. 101 Ramp will operate at LOS F. The WB left turn movement at the North State St./Clara Ave. intersection will operate at LOS E. The WB left turn movement at the North State St./Ford St. intersection will operate at LOS E. However, the project generates 4% of the cumulative traffic making the WB left turn at North State and Clara and none of the traffic making the WB left turn at North State and Ford. The project generates 3% of the traffic making the NB left turn at Gobbi and U.S. 101. Ail other studied intersections will operate at acceptable levels. The Orr Creek Neighborhood Committee raised concerns about the traffic impact to Clara and Ford Streets between State Street and Orchard. It also questioned the accuracy of the traffic counts by Barton-Aschman Associates. The City Council finds that traffic counts conducted by Orr Creek Neighborhood Committee and the City's Public Works Department simply demonstrates that traffic counts are subject to significant variation. The traffic counts used by Barton-Aschman are a reliable basis for projecting the individual and cumulative traffic impacts of the project. As to the impacts to Clara and Ford Streets the City Council finds that projected traffic contributed by the KMart project individually and cumulatively is well within the carrying capacity of the streets and will not significantly change the nature of the traffic in those neighborhoods. In any event, conditions 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 of the Use Permit either restore LOS at the adversely affected intersections to acceptable levels or leave the intersections functioning at the LOS that presently exists. In both cases, the individual and cumulative impacts of the KMart project have no significant adverse impact on existing traffic at the affected intersections, when those impacts are mitigated by these conditions of approval. b. Air quality imDacts. Based on the evidence presented, including letters from the Mendocino Air Pollution Control District ("MAPCD") and Hans D. Giroux ("Giroux"), an air quality expert s:\u\docs94\kmartl.fnd May 18, 1994 2 retained by KMart, the City Council finds as follows: (1) KMart is not a significant source of air pollutants from stationary sources. (2) The air quality impact debate focuses on the new vehicle trips KMart is estimated to attract to the Ukiah Valley. Air quality calculations conducted by both Giroux and MAPCD used the same estimated traffic volumes. (3) The City Council finds that the impacts from the traffic generated by the KMart project alone will not have a significant adverse impact on air quality or exceed any state or local air quality standard. The potential pollutants generated by vehicle emissions are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), Nitrogen Oxides (NO), Carbon Monoxide (CO) and particles smaller than 10 microns (PM10). Although CO emissions are projected at 822.6 tons/day which exceeds an initial significance threshold of 550 tons/day, the daily output does not mean that these emissions will adversely affect air quality. Using a "CALINE4" computer model to estimate the maximum hourly and total hourly impact at sensitive locations near the KMart project, the expected CO emissions are substantially below the accepted 8-hour standard for CO concentrations. VOC/NO emissions do not even exceed the initial significance thresholds. These pollutants are precursors to ozone formation. Ozone levels in excess of state standards constitute a health hazard to humans and animals and can adversely affect agriculture. Ozone levels in the Ukiah Valley do not exceed state standards, although such levels approach these limits on some occasions in the summer. Sufficient data does not exist to reliably predict how the increases in VOC/NO predicted for the KMart project will impact ozone formation in the valley. Thus, no evidence exists upon which a fair argument can be based that the KMart project alone will contribute significantly to ozone formation. MAPCD estimates that PM10 emissions will exceed significance thresholds in terms of pounds/day, but provides no analysis to show that the emissions will increase PM10 significantly at any particular location. (4) The significant debate concerns the cumulative impacts on air quality from KMart traffic in combination with present and future traffic associated with other projects. MAPCD and Citizens for Adequate Review (CFAR) argue that the pounds/day of VOC/NO produced by KMart traffic in combination with traffic from other probable future projects may cause the Ukiah Valley to exceed state standards for ozone. s:\u\docs94\kmartl.fnd May 18, 1994 3 The City has struggled with this debate before. (See FEIR-Wal Mart, p. 36.) Its findings for the Wal-Mart project found Wal- Mart's cumulative air quality impacts significant, because the City could not rule out the possibility that those cumulative impacts might cause the Ukiah Valley to exceed state ozone standards. In finding the cumulative impact significant, however, the City Council also found that: this impact is speculative and cannot feasibly be quantified with any degree of accuracy. For the reasons stated in Exhibit A (p. 11) and the August 6, 1992, Staff Report (pp. 6-8) ozone impacts cannot be studied and estimated within a reasonable period of time, taking into account economic, environmental, legal, social and technological factors. (Wal-Mart findings, p. 4.) The uncertainty with respect to this cumulative impact and infeasibility of studying or reliably predicting its significance remains. (5) The City Council finds that condition 20, requiring KMart to implement an Employee Transportation Management Program, condition 21, requring KMart of provide two transit turnouts, and condition 23, requiring KMart to contribute $36,250 to an "Air Quality Offset Fund" will reduce to insignificance any potential impact to air quality resulting from the KMart project individually or cumulatively. Condition 20 by the year 2000 should reduce average vehicle ridership (number of employees working per day divided by number of employee driven vehicles per day) by 1.5. The contribution to the Air Quality Offset Fund is based on $1,250 for each of the 29 tons/year of VOC/NO the KMart project traffic will produce. The money must be used to reduce existing or future VOC/NO emissions by a similar amount. c. Other impacts. Based on the evidence presented the City Council finds that the project as conditioned will not produce any other significant adverse environmental impacts. 2. The project as conditioned will not be detrimental to the health, safety, peace, morals, comfort or general welfare of persons residing or working in the neighborhood of the project, or be detrimental or injurious to property or improvements in the neighborhood or to the general welfare for the following reasons: a. The project is consistent with the applicable zoning and general plan designations and is compatible with existing uses in the area. b. The project will not have significant, adverse s:kukdocs94kkmartl.fnd May 18~ 1994 environmental impacts. c. The project design meets basic aesthetic standards for a commercial retail venture and is compatible with the existing design of the Pear Tree Shopping Center. PASSED AND ADOPTED this lB day of May, 1994, by the following roll call vote: AYES: Councilmembers Mastin, Malone, Wattenburger, Shoemaker, and Mayor Schneiter NOES: None ABSENT: None Fled Sc~[neiter, Mayor Ch~fhy' ~c Clerk s:\u\docs94\kmartl.fnd May 18, 1994 5