The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About09-16-2014 flickingerKremke, Kate From: Mejia, Anthony Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 4:03 PM To: Kremke, Kate Subject: FW: Public Comment, Council Agenda Item for 09/16/2014 Attachments: CumulativeImpacts_Attached.pdf Agenda Correspondence 09/16/14 Item PH3 SEp 1 5 2014 Anthony J. Mejia, MMC I City Clerk S.kn Inns Or;1sp0 <)�)o Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 tel 1805,781,7102 AGENDA CORRESPONDENCE Date Item #— f—ff > From: Sarah Flickinger [mailto:sarah @flickimc.com] Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 3:47 PM To: Ashbaugh, John; Carpenter, Dan; Christianson, Carlyn; Codron, Michael; Dietrick, Christine; Lichtig, Katie; Marx, Jan; Smith, Kathy; Mejia, Anthony Cc: 'Donna'; Murry, Kim; Mandeville, Peggy; 'Walter Bremer'; 'Darrell Goo' Subject: Public Comment, Council Agenda Item for 09/16/2014 Dear Council (and staff), I have attached a public comment from the Los Verdes Park 1 and 2 joint committee, for this Tuesday's City Council Meeting (September 16, 2014). Please find our 5 page public comment and its referenced attachments, in the two attached pdf files. This is the second ofthree public comments you will receive from the committee. Please confirm receipt. Thank you. Sarah Flickinger Join Committee Member Los Verdes Parks 1 & 2 Homeowners' Associations CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e -mail and any attachments may contain confidential information intended solely for the use of the addressee. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, any distribution, copying, or use of this e -mail or its attachments is prohibited. If you received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by e -mail and delete this message and any copies September 12, 2014 City Council of San Luis Obispo, CA City Council Public Comment Agenda Item: LUCE FEIR Certification Council Members We are a group representing 178 residential parcels of low density single family dwelling units, representing more than 500 City residents, as well additional non - resident owners. We respectfully request your careful consideration of the comments below with regard to certifying the FEIR for the LUCE update. We are a joint representative group of homeowners from the Los Verdes Park 1 Homeowners' Association, Inc. and Los Verdes Park Two Homeowners' Association, Inc. appointed to speak on behalf of the interests of all homeowners and residents within the two developments. Safety remains a major concern, but an increasing concern, as new development has been completed and approved for development in the past decade, is the cumulative traffic impacts and associated noise, safety, air quality and neighborhood character concerns related to poor levels of service at the intersection of South Higuera and Los Osos Valley Road as well as at the intersection of Los Verdes Drive and Los Osos Valley Road, and the inability for safe alternative modes of transportation in and around these two intersections. We recognize development in the area is coming. A significant portion of our constituents appreciate the benefits these developments bring, and we favor responsible planned development. That is what LUCE and other forward- looking policies are crafted to support. We are grateful that our City is updating its long term planning for the first time in two decades. We have been and will continue to be active participants in the discussion of planning decisions that impact the LOVR and South Higuera corridors. We are always willing to provide feedback and work with Staff, the Planning Commission and City Council to support and inform responsible development initiatives should you have need for our input. It is our understanding the required review of historical, present, and future (reasonably foreseeable) cumulative effects, helps prevent the adoption of multiple projects that individually demonstrate no significant effect when compared to current conditions, but collectively cause significant impacts on an area when incrementally adopted. The problem is particularly compounded when one EIR cites a measure in another pending project as the mitigation or analysis for the project at hand, as is happening with the LUCE and Chevron FEIRs. Cumulative effects are of concern since they could significantly change the usage of Los Osos Valley Road and affect the LVP communities. Impacts stem from changes to traffic patterns that subsequently influence air quality, pedestrian safety, multimodal and vehicular transportation safety and accessibility, noise levels, visual / aesthetic characteristics, and community character. As this LUCE is designed to present reasonably foreseeable cumulative effects between the present and 2035, its findings will be relied upon and referenced for future developments' EIR studies until it is revisited for a future update, the timing of which is yet to be determined. We have included the attached table (Attachment A) to show a demonstration of recent and impending developments' forecasted impacts to LOS at the Los Osos Valley Road and S. Higuera intersection for PM traffic. Not all EIRs examined included AM counts, and only a few included the intersection at Los Verdes Drive and Los Osos Valley Road. Our limited preparation time did not allow for inclusion of all planning projects and developments under review. To the best of our knowledge all cumulative impacts assume the Prado Road Interchange is built with ramps as a full overpass and interchange, with extension to Broad Street, as per the City's General Plan. While this cross section does not show the full picture due to inconsistencies between EIRs, it represents a pattern of cumulative effects being spread when considered individually. Attachment B includes hyperlink citations for EIRs reviewed to date. Please note areas highlighted with blue text. As recently as 2003, a background analysis showed a LOS of A at this intersection. A 2007 City traffic forecasted the background level in 2015 to be at D, though development projects examined thus far — including one in 2009 —all forecast cumulative levels of C. Both the LUCE EIR and Chevron Project EIR cumulative forecasts show degradation to LOS F for the LOVR / S. Higuera intersection without the Bypass or other mitigation measures, and assuming Prado Road built as a full interchange. Additional LUCE Prado Road analysis for Prado without ramps, assuming max build (including Bypass) shows this LOS raises to D. With the Bypass and Prado with ramps the LOS raises to C. The LUCE analysis does not include forecasts for this intersection without Prado and without the Bypass, which is how it is currently configured. The Bypass is needed to accommodate traffic from recent and impending developments (i.e. Chevron, Avila Ranch, etc.). It should not be made conditional solely on future development of two small residential developments between the Los Verdes Parks and US 101, as most recently recommended by staff. Please refer to our public comments on "Sensitivity Analysis" (also submitted for the September 16, 2014 Council Meeting) for discussion of this. According to the LUCE EIR, the Circulation Element Update did identify the Bypass as an appropriate infrastructure improvement, until a June 29th memo was presented to Council on July 1, 2014, at which time City Staff changed their recommendation to Council to preclude the Bypass as a project to be advanced. (Again, please refer to our public comment on "Sensitivity Analysis. ") We respectfully request that Council review these matters, and the ones indicated in our previous comment on "Sensitivity Analysis," with staff prior to acceptance of the FEIR. Acceptance of the FEIR should be conditional upon the removal of the Sensitivity Analysis for the Bypass drafted June 29, 2014 and any related changes within the EIR document resulting from this analysis, and reinstatement of the initial Bypass finding that the Bypass should be advanced as a project, without condition. Thank you. (Prepared by: Sarah Flickinger, on behalf of the Los Verdes Parks 1 and 2 committee) Attachment A Traffic Count Parameter (if applicable) Background Background Source (if Delay LOS Project Project Cumulative Cumulative Date of EIR available ) Project Project Condition (Costco) Delay LOS 2.eIay LOS Cited as various June 2003 sources in EIR Froom Ranch 15.1 B 16.8 B 26 C Cited as various Froom Parcels (Costco plus June 2003 sources in EIR Froom Ranch two Froom parcels) 15.1 B 19.1 JB 26 C Traffic and circulation study prepared by Fehr SL Marketplace November 2003 & Peers, Inc. (former project) Cumulative Delay is with 10 A NEED NEED NEED NEED Fehr & ers Pe Prefumo Creek MONTH 2009" 2009 Commons ( ?) Project 2035 14.3 B 15.2 B 28.9 C Forecast No -Build is used as 2015 Design Year Traffic Operation L Background; Alternative 3 MONTH 2011" : Report, 2007 Interchange as Project Condition 35.3 D 28.5 C 63.4 E Overland Traffic Future Cumulative Delay Consultants, Inc., with Project 2035 2012 Traffic Conditions November 2012 Analysis Chevron 16 B 23.9 C 152.1 F Overland Traffic Prado Analysis within Consultants, Inc., project, Without Prado, 2012 Traffic Future Cumulative Delay Conditions with Project 2035 November 2012 Analysis Chevron NEED NEED NEED NEED NEED NEED Bypass Analysis, Without Synchro 8 Report, LOVR Extension Master City Network, October 2011 plus LUCE forecast under Max Build -Out June 2014 Conditions LUCE 18 C n/a n/a 87 F Attachment A Bypass Analysis, With Synchro 8 Report, LOVR Extension 9] Master City Network, October 2011 plus LUCE forecast under IC Max Build -Out June 2014 Conditions LUCE 18 C n/a n/a 21 Prado Interchange Analysis, Synchro 8 Report, Without Prado, Without Master City LOVR Extension ! Network, October 2011 plus LUCE forecast for No NOT NOT Build Prado Road AVAILABLE AVAILABLE June 2014 option LUCE 18 C n/a n/a IN LUCE IN LUCE Prado Interchange Analysis, _ Synchro 8 Report, Without Prado, With LOVR Master City Extension Network, October 2011 pluce LUCE forecast for full interchange at 1 June 2014 Prado LUCE 18 C n/a n/a 44.1 D Attachment B do Interchange 1996 om Ranch /Costco idio Reports mo http: / /www.slocity .org /communitydevelopment/ download/ unifiedgeneralplan/ JDavid /Prefumo_Final_EIR- v4.pol t IC Don't know web address, but I have a pdf ron httpIMrww.slocity. org/ CommunitydevelopmenUdownload /ChevronEiRlchevroneir.asl, http: fAvww.slocity.org /com mu n itydevelopmenVdownloadf0h ev ronE I R /sectio ns1Ap pe ndicies/Appe ndi x° /`200 ron Traffic �20EIR.pdf