HomeMy WebLinkAbout11 RESO 20-47 SUPPORT OF DELAY VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED REQUIREMENTS OF SB 743DocuSign Envelope ID: 3431 F6CE-8632-432D-8504-AED3F6D95485
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AGENDA REPORT
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JUNE 16, 2020
Agenda Item 11
Reviewed:
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City Manager 5W
Finance Director N/A
HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
MATTHEW S. WEST, CITY MANAGER
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 20-47 IN SUPPORT OF DELAYING
VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED REQUIREMENTS OF SB 743
By adopting Resolution No. 20-47, the City will be requesting a delay in the implementation
of the SB 743 vehicle miles traveled (VMT) CEQA analysis set to take effect on July 1,
2020.
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt Resolution No. 20-47 in support of delaying the VMT requirements of SB 743.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND:
SB 743 (Steinberg, 2013) was intended to "more appropriately balance the needs of
congestion management with statewide goals related to infill development, promotion of
public health through active transportation, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions."
Once implemented, traffic congestion shall not be considered a significant impact on the
environment within California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) transportation analysis.
For land use projects, VMT has been established as the new metric for identifying and
mitigating transportation impacts within CEQA. However, there are concerns that the VMT
metric may result in the increased costs of construction of new housing developments and
apartment buildings, which then could be passed on to owners and residents. The
implementation of this new CEQA analysis is set to begin on July 1, 2020.
In addition to the implications of the policy itself, the amount of staff time associated with
updating CEQA policies at the local level would be challenging enough under more normal
circumstances. Local governments are focused on navigating the COVID-19 pandemic,
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and implementation of SB 743 should be delayed at least until state and county health
orders are lifted.
DISCUSSION:
Due to the variety of issues associated with the implementation of SB 743, many business
organizations, local governments and members of the California Legislature of both parties
have requested that implementation of the new SB 743 requirements be delayed until at
least July 1, 2021. Resolution No. 20-47, should it be approved by the Council, will add the
City of Tustin to that list.
Attachments-
- Resolution No. 20-47
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RESOLUTION NO. 20-47
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, TO REQUEST THE DELAY OF THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF TITLE 14 OF THE CALIFORNIA
CODE OF REGULATIONS, SECTION 15064.3
WHEREAS, on January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared
COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, and on January 31, 2020,
the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services declared a Public Health
Emergency; and
WHEREAS, on March 4, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a
State of Emergency to make additional resources available, formalize emergency actions
already underway across multiple state agencies and departments, and help the state
prepare for a broader spread of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, the City of Tustin is experiencing a decline in revenues, unanticipated
COVID-19 expenses have been incurred including expenses related to disinfection of
public facilities, purchase of personal protective equipment, new technology for remote
operations, increased public safety costs (including overtime), increased personnel costs
(including overtime), purchasing supplies for residents and financial support to residents
and businesses; and
WHEREAS, the City of Tustin is required by a new state regulation (Title 14 of the
California Code of Regulations, section 15064.3) to adopt a threshold of significance
under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); and
WHEREAS, state VMT regulations allow cities and counties with justification to
establish a "threshold of significance" for determining how much VMT is a "significant"
CEQA impact that requires projects to pay for VMT mitigation, which could result in
differing thresholds of significance between adjacent cities making one city more
attractive to development than the other; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in dramatic changes in
transportation patterns such as the expansion of working from home, learning from home,
and even receiving medical care from home via remote communication technologies, as
well as decreases in public transit ridership based on social distancing and related health
priorities that could affect establishing baseline conditions on which project impacts are
based; and
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WHEREAS, the absence of a uniformly applied regionwide existing VMT Fee
mitigation program, creates significant legal uncertainties about how the City will be
required to implement CEQA as of July 1; and
WHEREAS, the majority of CEQA lawsuits target housing projects, and the most
frequently targeted commercial projects are in the logistics industry; and
WHEREAS, defending CEQA lawsuits consumes City time and resources, and the
City is responding to urgent COVID-19 emergencies including the ongoing housing crisis,
and the new unemployment crisis and loss of household income as well as tax revenues
and fees;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the City Council of the City of Tustin
hereby requests that Governor Newsom extend the implementation date of Title 14 of the
California Code of Regulations, section 15064.3 until July 1, 2021.
Be it further resolved that the action taken today be transmitted to Governor
Newsom immediately.
PASSED and ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Tustin at a regular
meeting on 16th day of June, 2020.
Dr. Allan Bernstein,
Mayor
ATTEST:
ERICA N. YASUDA,
City Clerk
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE )
CITY OF TUSTIN )
I, Erica N. Yasuda, City Clerk and ex -officio Clerk of the City Council of the City of Tustin,
California, do hereby certify that the whole number of the members of the City Council of
the City of Tustin is five; that the above and foregoing Resolution No 20-47 was duly
passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Tustin City Council, held on the 16th day
of June, 2020 by the following vote:
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COUNCILMEMBER AYES:
COUNCILMEMBER NOES:
COUNCILMEMBER ABSTAINED:
COUNCILMEMBER ABSENT:
ERICA N. YASUDA,
City Clerk