Final Environmental Impact Report San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan Prepared by: The City of El Cerrito With Assistance from: MIG, Inc. August 2014 State Clearinghouse #2014042025 San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan Final EIR City of El Cerrito Contents August 26, 2014 Page i CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Relationship Between the Draft EIR and Final EIR .................................................. 1-1 1.2 Project Description Summary ...................................................................................1-2 1.3 Adequacy of Final EIR ..............................................................................................1-3 2. RESPONSES TO COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT EIR ......................................................2-1 2.1 List of Draft EIR Commenters ..................................................................................2-1 2.2 Master Response Regarding Potential Use of Side Streets ..................................... 2-3 2.3 Responses to July 9, 2014 Public Comment Meeting Comments on the Draft EIR ................................................................................................................2-5 2.4 Responses to Written Comments Received During the Draft EIR Public Review Period .....................................................................................................2-15 3. REVISIONS TO THE DRAFT EIR .....................................................................................3-1 T:\1756-04\FEIR\F-contents (1756-04).doc San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan Final EIR City of El Cerrito Contents August 26, 2014 Page ii T:\1756-04\FEIR\F-contents (1756-04).doc San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan Final EIR City of El Cerrito 1. Introduction August 26, 2014 Page 1-1 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DRAFT EIR AND FINAL EIR The Final Environmental Impact Report (Final EIR) for the proposed San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan has been prepared by the City of El Cerrito (City), the Lead Agency,1 in keeping with State environmental documentation requirements set forth in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The City has prepared the Final EIR pursuant to the CEQA Guidelines, including sections 15086 (Consultation Concerning Draft EIR), 15088 (Evaluation of and Responses to Comments), and 15132 (Contents of Final Environmental Impact Report). In conformance with these guidelines, the Final EIR consists of the following two volumes: (1) the Draft EIR, which was circulated for a 45-day State agency and public review and comment period beginning on June 3, 2014; and (2) this Final EIR document, which includes a list of all commenters on the Draft EIR during the Draft EIR public review period; speaker comments from the July 9, 2014 Public Comment Meeting on the Draft EIR; verbatim versions of all written communications (letters) received during the Draft EIR review period; the responses of the EIR authors to all environmental points raised during the public meeting and in the written communications; and associated revisions to the Draft EIR. None of the revisions to the Draft EIR represents a substantial increase in the severity of an identified significant impact or the identification of a new significant impact, mitigation, or alternative considerably different from those already considered in preparing the Draft EIR. Both volumes of the Final EIR are available for public review at El Cerrito City Hall, 10890 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530. Business hours are: Monday and Wednesday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM; Tuesday and Thursday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM; and alternate Fridays, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The Final EIR and all documents referenced in the Final EIR and Draft EIR are available for review at the City of El Cerrito website at: www.el-cerrito.org/SPASP The responses to comments included in this document are correlated to the public meeting and letter comments by code numbers. Code numbers for comment letters are posted in the right hand margin of each comment letter. 1The Specific Plan area is located within both the City of El Cerrito and the City of Richmond. By mutual agreement of both jurisdictions, the City of El Cerrito is acting as the Lead Agency for this EIR, which has been prepared pursuant to all relevant sections of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). T:\1756-04\FEIR\F-1 (1756-04).doc San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan Final EIR City of El Cerrito 1. Introduction August 26, 2014 Page 1-2 Certification of this Final EIR by the El Cerrito City Council must occur prior to approval of the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan. 1.2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION SUMMARY This project description summary should not be relied upon for a thorough understanding of the details of the project, its individual impacts, and related mitigation needs. Please refer to Draft EIR chapter 3 for a complete description of the project, Draft EIR chapters 4 through 17 for a complete description of identified environmental impacts and associated mitigation measures, and Draft EIR chapter 20 for an evaluation of alternatives to the Specific Plan. The Specific Plan ("project") represents a collaborative planning effort between the cities of El Cerrito and Richmond to identify a shared vision for the future of San Pablo Avenue, identify improvement needs, and adopt implementing regulations that can be applied consistently in the Plan area. A major goal of the planning effort is to achieve a coordinated, cohesive environment and character in the Plan area through (1) a Form-Based Code (FBC); (2) multi- modal transportation goals and policies, recommended streetscape design improvements, and design standards as part of the Complete Streets Plan; and (3) infrastructure improvements. 1.2.1 Form-Based Code The Specific Plan Form-Based Code (FBC) supports the community vision of a vibrant, walkable, sustainable, and transit-oriented corridor that respects surrounding neighborhoods. As discussed in chapter 3 (Project Description) of this EIR, the FBC is organized by Transect Zones within a framework of Downtown, Midtown, and Uptown areas. The Transect Zones regulate the building heights, parking requirements, and land uses for new development in the El Cerrito portion of the Plan area. The zones are defined primarily by walking distance to the BART stations. For the Richmond parcels in the Plan area, the Specific Plan defers to the Richmond Livable Corridors Form-Based Code. Land use types would be determined by the City of Richmond General Plan designations. 1.2.2 Complete Streets Plan The Complete Streets Plan provides direction for the redesign and development of the street right-of-way (ROW) in the Plan area, such as travel lanes, intersections, bike lanes, cycletracks, crosswalks, and medians. The Plan also provides guidance for the pedestrian realm of the ROW. The Complete Streets Plan aims to create a streetscape environment that balances the needs of all users and encourages “mode shift” to increase the percentage of pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users. 1.2.3 Infrastructure Systems The Specific Plan (especially the Infrastructure Systems chapter) includes infrastructure goals and policies, and recommends feasible improvements to infrastructure systems to support the Plan objectives. The systems evaluated in the plan include water, wastewater, storm drainage, and dry utilities (e.g., gas, electric, cable). T:\1756-04\FEIR\F-1 (1756-04).doc San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan Final EIR City of El Cerrito 1. Introduction August 26, 2014 Page 1-3 1.2.4 Development Capacity Assumptions The Plan area development capacity assumptions used for the impact analyses in this program EIR are first based on projections provided by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) for the Plan area, then on entitled and planned projects in the City of El Cerrito and the City of Richmond, and projections for the construction of projects consistent with the Form- Based Code development standards. For the purpose of this EIR, ABAG Plan Bay Area growth projections were applied to the new development standards, including on-site parking, site layout and height parameters, to assume a realistic growth projection for the Specific Plan area. These design standards were developed to be consistent with the goals of Plan Bay Area: climate protection, adequate housing, healthy and safe communities, open space and agricultural preservation, equitable access, economic vitality, and transportation system effectiveness, but incorporate locally refined data more telling of the development feasibility of the Specific Plan than would be possible on a regional planning level (also see EIR chapter 14, Population and Housing). No site-specific, individual development proposals would be approved as part of the Specific Plan EIR certification process; any such individual project would be subject to its own CEQA review, including evaluation against the Specific Plan EIR. 1.2.5 Required Approvals Implementation of the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan for the parcels within each City’s respective jurisdiction would require, but not be limited to, the following discretionary approvals by the City of El Cerrito and the City of Richmond: . Certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report . Adoption of a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program . Adoption of the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan for the parcels within the City of El Cerrito; adoption of the Richmond Livable Corridors Form-Based Code development