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HomeMy WebLinkAbout7312 RESOLUTION NO. 7312 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA ADOPTING "VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED" THRESHOLDS OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR PURPOSES OF ANALYZING TRANSPORTATION IMPACTS UNDER THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT WHEREAS, the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines ("CEQA Guidelines") encourage public agencies to develop and publish generally applicable "thresholds of significance" to be used in determining the significance of a project's environmental effects; and WHEREAS, CEQA Guidelines section 15064.7(a) defines a threshold of significance as "an identifiable quantitative, qualitative or performance level of a particular environmental effect, noncompliance with which means the effect will normally be determined to be significant by the agency and compliance with which means the effect normally will be determined to be less than significant"; and WHEREAS, CEQA Guidelines section 15064.7(b) requires that thresholds of significance must be adopted by ordinance, resolution, rule, or regulations, developed through a public review process, and be supported by substantial evidence; and WHEREAS, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15064.7(c), when adopting thresholds of significance, a public agency may consider thresholds of significance adopted or recommended by other public agencies provided that the decision of the agency is supported by substantial evidence; and WHEREAS, Senate Bill 743, enacted in 2013 and codified in Public Resources Code section 21099, required changes to the CEQA Guidelines regarding the criteria for determining the significance of transportation impacts of projects; and 1 WHEREAS, in 2018, the Governor's Office of Planning and Research ("OPR") proposed, and the California Natural Resources Agency certified and adopted, new CEQA Guidelines section 15064.3 that identifies vehicle miles traveled ("VMT") — meaning the amount and distance of automobile travel attributable to a project — as the most appropriate metric to evaluate a project's transportation impacts; and WHEREAS, as a result, automobile delay, as measured by "level of service" and other similar metrics, generally no longer constitutes a significant environmental effect under CEQA; and WHEREAS, the City's project review process will retain "level of service" analysis to ensure consistency with the General Plan and compliance with the City's traffic impact fee program; and WHEREAS, CEQA Guidelines section 15064.3 goes into effect on July 1, 2020, though public agencies may elect to be governed by this section immediately; and WHEREAS, the City of ARCADIA, following a public review process consisting of a staff presentation before the City Council, wishes to adopt the VMT thresholds of significance for determining the significance of transportation impacts. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA, DOES FIND, DETERMINE AND RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The City of Arcadia hereby adopts the VMT thresholds of significance attached as Exhibit A. SECTION 2. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by the City Council and the Clerk of the Council shall attest to and certify the vote adopting this Resolution. 2 Passed, approved and adopted this 16th day of June, 2020. Mayoe City of Arcadia ATTEST: e / tom` Clerk 411 APPROVED AS TO FORM: Stephen P. Deitsch City Attorney 3 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) SS: CITY OF ARCADIA ) I, GENE GLASCO, City Clerk of the City of Arcadia, hereby certifies that the foregoing Resolution No. 7312 was passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Arcadia, signed by the Mayor and attested to by the City Clerk at a regular meeting of said Council held on the 16th day of June, 2020 and that said Resolution was adopted by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Beck, Cheng, Verlato, Tay, and Chandler NOES: None ABSENT: None Clerk of City of Arcadia 4 City of Arcadia Significance Thresholds for Transportation Consistent with State CEQA guidelines section 15064.3, the City of Arcadia has adopted the thresholds of significance set forth in Table 1 to guide in determining when a project will have a significant transportation impact. Table 1 Vehicle Miles Traveled VMT Impact Thresholds Project Type Thresholds Land Use Plan 1) Project Impact: A significant impact would occur if the VMT rate for the plan would exceed a level of 15% below the applicable baseline VMT rate. 2) Project Effect: A significant impact would occur if the project increases total regional VMT compared to cumulative no project conditions. Land Use Project 1) Project Impact: A significant impact would occur if the VMT rate for the project would exceed a level of 15% below the applicable baseline VMT rate. 2) Project Effect: A significant impact would occur if the project increases total regional VMT compared to baseline conditions. Retail Project 1) Project Impact: A significant impact would occur if the VMT rate for the project would exceed a level of 15% below the applicable baseline VMT. 2) Project Effect: A significant impact would occur if the project increases total VMT in the study area compared to baseline conditions. Transportation Project A significant impact would occur if the project causes a net increase in total regional VMT compared to baseline conditions, opening year no project conditions, or cumulative no project conditions. All land use and A significant impact would occur if the project is inconsistent with transportation projects the RTP/SCS. Note: 1. VMT to be reported as VMT per Service Population, VMT per capita, or VMT per employee. 2. The Baseline VMT rate is defined as the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments Northwest Sub-Region per applicable service population.