HomeMy WebLinkAbout16 SANTA ANA DRAFT EIR 04-18-05
Agenda Item
16
A G END A REPORT
Reviewed: ; ......--
City Manager ~
Finance Director ~
MEETING DATE:
APRil 18, 2005
FROM:
WilLIAM A. HUSTON, CITY MANAGER
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
TO:
SUBJECT:
CITY OF TUSTIN RESPONSE TO CITY OF SANTA ANA DRAFT
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR MACARTHUR PLACE SOUTH
SUMMARY
City Council authorization is requested for the City of Tustin's response to the subject Draft
Environmental Impact Report for the proposed MacArthur Place South project in the City
of Santa Ana (Attachment A).
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council authorize staff to forward the attached response letter to the City of
Santa Ana.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There are no fiscal impacts associated with this action.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
The proposed project includes the development of a total of 791 residences and 10,000
square feet of office space in three 25-story residential towers, three 5-6 story residential
buildings, and a 5-6 story office/loft building, and 13,871 square feet of restaurant and
retail space in a one-story building, all located south of MacArthur Boulevard and east of
Main Street in the City of Santa Ana (see location Map).
A total of 47,000 square feet of existing land uses will be demolished as part of the
construction, including a movie theater, a restaurant, and surface parking lots. The site is
currently zoned C2 (General Commercial) and a zone change to SD (Specific
Development) will be required.
The Draft EIR concludes that the project would result in significant and unavoidable
impacts to aesthetics, air quality, and traffic and transportation.
City Council Report
DEIR Santa Ana MacArthur Place
April 18,2005
Page 2
The Community Development and Public Works Departments have reviewed the
subject Draft EIR. Staff believes that all traffic impacts to the City of Tustin should be
appropriately mitigated. Staff also believes that it is in the City's interest to be on record
regarding this matter and has prepared correspondence expressing the City's concerns
regarding the Draft EIR document (see Attachment A). Staff requests that the Tustin
City Council review and consider these comments and, if acceptable, authorize their
formal transmission to the City of Santa Ana.
~ tM;t; ~
Scott Reekstin
Senior Planner
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Elizabeth A. Binsack
Community Development Director
Attachments:
A.
B.
Draft Comment Response Letter
Location Map
S:\CddlCCReportsIDEIR Santa Ana MacArthur Place South.doc
ATTACHMENT A
DRAFT COMMENT RESPONSE LETTER
April 19,2005
Dan Bott
City of Santa Ana
Planning Division
P.O. Box 1988 (M-20)
Santa Ana, CA 92702
SUBJECT: REVIEW OF DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR MACARTHUR
PLACE SOUTH PROJECT IN THE CITY OF SANTA ANA
Dear Mr. Bott:
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Report
fpr the MacArthur Place South project in the City of Santa Ana. The project is proposed to
include the development of a total of 791 residences and 10,000 square feet of office space in
three 25-story residential towers, three 5-6 story residential buildings, and a 5-6 story office/loft
building, and 13,871 square feet of restaurant and retail space in a one-story building, all located
south of MacArthur Boulevard and east of Main Street in the City of Santa Ana.
The City of Tustin has identified the following comments and concerns:
1. The Traffic Study contained a limited number of "cumulative projects." Some significant
projects (Le., the Tustin Legacy, Pacific Center East, etc.) appear to have been
excluded from the year 2007 analyses. All projects that may contribute significant
traffic to the study intersections should be included in the Traffic Study to assure that all
impacts have been fully addressed.
2. Please confirm that the traffic model used for the future conditions analyses accurately
reflects the land use approvals for the Tustin Legacy project and other significant
projects in the area (Le., Pacific Center East, etc.)
3. With the existing traffic congestion on State Route ("SR") 55 in the study area, there is
added potential for traffic to use parallel arterials (Le., Red Hill Avenue, etc.). Potential
traffic impacts (also see comments 1 and 2 above) related to these factors need to be
included in the traffic analyses. This may require the inclusion of additional study
intersections such as Red Hill/Dyer-Barranca, Red Hili/Warner, Red HiliNalencia, etc.
The responses to the NOP indicate that SR-55 congestion is considered in the analysis,
but the year 2007 and 2025 project traffic distributions provided in the DEIR, for SR-55
and Red Hill Avenue, are essentially the same. It is anticipated that increased
congestion on the SR-55 may occur by year 2025. In addition, when considering if
added intersections need to be analyzed as requested, the 0.03 ICU threshold is only
Mr. Dan Bott
Santa Ana MacArthur Place South Draft EIR
April 19, 2005
Page 2
applicable to CMP locations. Other locations in the city of Tustin have a 0.01 ICU
significance threshold.
4. All previously submitted comments on the NOP (see above) should be adequately
addressed. The previous comments may need to be expanded with the inclusion of the
added cumulative projects.
5. There should be a mitigation measure required of the project to contribute a "fair share"
toward needed improvements in the City of Tustin, where the proposed project is
expected to add traffic. If there are significant project impacts, then specific added
improvements may be required.
6. Further detailed review will be completed upon inclusion of the requested materials.
We would appreciate the opportunity to review the revised materials upon completion.
We may have additional comments upon receipt of the updated analyses.
Thank you again for the opportunity to provide comments on the Draft Environmental Impact
Report for the MacArthur Place South project. The City of Tustin would appreciate receiving the
Final EIR documents with the responses to our comments when they become available.
If you have any questions regarding the City's comments, please call me at (714) 573-3016 or
Terry Lutz, Principal Engineer, at (714) 573-3263.
Sincerely,
Scott Reekstin
Senior Planner
Terry Lutz
Principal Engineer
cc:
Elizabeth Binsack
Tim Serlet
Dana Kasdan
Doug Anderson
Scott Reekstin
SA:environiSanta Ana MacArthur Place South DEIA Comment Letter.doc
ATTACHMENT B
LOCATION MAP
Section 4.2. Project location and Boundaries - 39
Chapte' 4. Proj",t Oemlptlon
Exhibit 3 - Project Vicinity Map
City of Santa Ana
(Manoh 2005) 0'0" Envl,onmental Impact Report
MacArthu, Place South