Rand Corporation Headquarters Building Final EIR Table of Contents
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
RAND CORPORATION HEADQUARTERS BUILDING Final Environmental Impact Report State Clearinghouse No. 1999122008 Prepared by: City of Santa Monica Planning & Community Development Department 1685 Main Street Santa Monica, CA 90407-2200 Contact: Mr. Andrew Agle Prepared with the assistance of: Rincon Consultants, Inc. 790 East Santa Clara Street Ventura, California 93001 August 2000 This report is printed on 50% recycled paper with 10% post-consumer content and chlorine-free virgin pulp. Rand Corporation Headquarters Building Final EIR Table of Contents Rand Corporation Headquarters Building Final EIR Table of Contents Page 1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................... 1-1 2.0 Revisions to the Project Following Public Review 2.1 Revisions to the Project Description ............................................................................... 2-1 2.2 Clarifications to the EIR................................................................................................... 2-1 3.0 Correction Pages to the Draft EIR ............................................................................................... 3-1 4.0 Draft Environmental Impact Report ........................................................................................... 4-1 5.0 Comments and Responses 5.1 Comments and Responses .............................................................................................. 5-1 5.2 Commentors on the Draft EIR ........................................................................................ 5-1 5.3 Comment Letters and Responses ................................................................................... 5-1 City of Santa Monica i 1.0 Introduction RAND Corporation Headquarters Building Final EIR Section 1.0 Introduction 1.0 INTRODUCTION In accordance with the City of Santa Monica Guidelines for implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Sections 15088, 15089, and 15132 of CEQA, the City of Santa Monica has prepared the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the proposed RAND Corporation Headquarters Building. The project applicant is the RAND Corporation, 1700 Main Street, Santa Monica, California, 90401 Section 2.0 contains revisions to the project description since the close of the public review period along with any necessary clarifications to the EIR resulting from the change in the project description. Also included, as necessary, are correction pages to the Draft EIR, in Section 3.0. Section 5.0 of this document contains all comments received on the Draft EIR for the RAND Corporation Headquarters Building during the 45-day public review period which began June 6, 2000 and concluded on July 21, 2000. Responses to comments received from all interested parties have been prepared and are included in this document. This document, along with the Draft EIR (included herein as Section 4.0), make up the Final EIR as defined in State CEQA Guidelines Section 15132. The following is an excerpt from the CEQA Guidelines Section 15132: The Final EIR shall consist of: a) The Draft EIR or a revision of the Draft. b) Comments and recommendations received on the Draft EIR, either verbatim or in summary. c) A list of persons, organizations, and public agencies commenting on the Draft EIR. d) The responses of the Lead Agency to significant environmental points raised in the review and consultation process. e) Any other information added by the Lead Agency. The environmental review phase of a project precedes the phase that considers the project approval decision. The environmental review phase identifies the environmental impacts in compliance with CEQA, while the project approval phase considers the range of factors (environmental, normative, preferential) relevant to the decision to approve a project. Certification of the EIR is not project approval. It simply marks the end of the environmental review. It is a judgment that the EIR is a legally adequate informational document in compliance with CEQA. Only when the EIR document adequately identifies all of a proposed project’s significant environmental impacts can it be used in the project approval phase along with the consideration of other relevant factors. To approve a project, CEQA requires that either the significant impacts if a project (as identified in the EIR) be reduced to less than significant levels through the implementation of mitigation measures, or the approving body must adopt a finding of overriding considerations stating that mitigation measures are nonexistent or infeasible and this the impact is unavoidably significant. City of Santa Monica 1-1 2.0 Revisions to the Project Following Public Review RAND Corporation Headquarters Building Final EIR Section 2.0 Revisions to the Project Following Public Review 2.0 REVISIONS TO THE PROJECT FOLLOWING PUBLIC REVIEW Following the close of the public review period for the Draft EIR, the project applicant made a revision to the proposed project. This revision to the proposed project, and any clarifications to the EIR required as a result, are presented in this section of the Final EIR. 2.1 REVISIONS TO THE PROJECT DESCRIPTION As discussed in the Draft EIR, the RAND Corporation proposes to provide parking for the employees and visitors to the project within a subterranean parking garage. Originally, the garage was planned as a 3 ½ level subterranean structure that would accommodate 825 to 1,020 parking spaces depending on whether tandem parking were utilized. The RAND Corporation now proposes to include an additional half level of subterranean parking, increasing the size of garage to four subterranean levels. The increased size of the garage would increase the maximum number of spaces that could be accommodated to 1,030, rather than the 1,020 spaces as originally proposed. These spaces would be accommodated through the use of tandem parking. It should be noted that the addition of another half level of parking would not result in an increase in the proposed bottom grade of the parking structure (approximately 42 feet below current grade). All other project design components and operational characteristics are the same as those described and analyzed in the Draft EIR. 2.2 CLARIFICATIONS TO THE EIR Aesthetics. The addition of a half level of parking within the subterranean parking structure would not be visible from the area surrounding the project site. Therefore, no change in aesthetic impacts from those identified in the Draft EIR would occur. Air Quality. Since the proposed project would be developed in the same location and have the operational characteristics as those analyzed in the Draft EIR, no change in air quality impacts from those identified in the Draft EIR would occur. Construction Effects. The addition of another half level of parking could potentially extend the amount of time required for construction of the proposed project. However, the daily construction characteristics of the proposed project would not be expected to change. The mitigation measures listed in Section 4.3, Construction Effects, in the Draft EIR would continue to apply and the residual impacts discussed in the analysis would remain the same. Cultural Resources. The addition of another half level of subterranean parking would involve additional grading and excavation activity on-site. As discussed in Section 4.4, Cultural Resources, grading activities on-site could potentially expose previously unknown buried cultural resources. Implementation of Mitigation Measures CR-2(a) and CR-2(b) would reduce impacts to unknown cultural resources to less than significant. Therefore, no change in impacts to cultural resources from those identified in the Draft EIR would be expected to occur. Geology/Soils. Given that the location of the parking garage and the bottom grade of the parking structure (approximately 42 feet below ground surface) would be the same as analyzed City of Santa Monica 2-1 RAND Corporation Headquarters Building Final EIR Section 2.0 Revisions to the Project Following Public Review in the Draft EIR, the change in the project description would not be expected to result in a change in the impacts relating to geology or soils. Implementation of the mitigation measures required in Section 4.5, Geology, would reduce impacts to less than significant despite the change in the project description. Hazards and Hazardous Materials. Since the change in the project description would not result in a change in the location of the proposed project or increase depth of excavation associated with construction of the subterranean parking garage, changes to the impacts relating to this issue would not occur. The mitigation measures required to reduce significant impacts related to hazards to less than significant would continue to apply. Land Use/Planning. Development of the project with four levels of subterranean parking would not result in incompatibilities with adjacent land uses beyond those already discussed in the Draft EIR, nor would it create inconsistencies with the CCSP with regards to the provision of public open space. Impact LU-5 addresses the development of a greater number of parking spaces than the amount envisioned in the current CCSP. The change to the project description would necessitate changes to the wording of the impact statement, discussion, and Mitigation Measure LU-5 to include 1,030 spaces rather than the 1,020 spaces originally proposed. However, this change in the