Baseball Stadium in the Diridon/Arena Area (Modified Project) Supplemental Environmental Impact Report

FIRST AMENDMENT TO SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT (RESPONSE TO COMMENTS) BASEBALL STADIUM IN THE DIRIDON/ARENA AREA (MODIFIED PROJECT) SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT STATE CLEARINGHOUSE #2005112126 PROJECT #PP05-214 City of San José May 2010 FIRST AMENDMENT TO SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT (RESPONSE TO COMMENTS) BASEBALL STADIUM IN THE DIRIDON/ARENA AREA (MODIFIED PROJECT) SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT STATE CLEARINGHOUSE #2005112126 PROJECT #PP05-214 Submitted to the: City of San José Planning Division 200 East Santa Clara Street, 3rd Floor San José, CA 95113 Prepared by: LSA Associates, Inc. 2215 Fifth Street Berkeley, CA 94710 May 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... 1 A. PURPOSE OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT ..................................................................... 1 B. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESS ....................................................................... 1 C. DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION ...................................................................................... 2 II. LIST OF COMMENTING AGENCIES, ORGANIZATIONS, AND INDIVIDUALS ........... 3 A. ORGANIZATION OF COMMENT LETTERS AND RESPONSES................................ 3 B. LIST OF AGENCIES, ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS COMMENTING ON THE DRAFT EIR............................................................................ 3 III. COMMENTS AND RESPONSES ........................................................................................... 7 A. STATE AGENCIES ......................................................................................................... 23 B. LOCAL AND REGIONAL AGENCIES ......................................................................... 27 C. ORGANIZATIONS.......................................................................................................... 57 D. INDIVIDUALS .............................................................................................................. 216 IV. DRAFT SEIR TEXT REVISIONS ....................................................................................... 267 V. MITIGATION MONITORING AND REPORTING PROGRAM....................................... 271 ATTACHMENTS Attachment 1: Ballpark Additional Day Game Analysis Attachment 2: Ballpark Additional Intersection Analysis P:\SJO0903 Baseball Stadium\PRODUCTS\RTC\Final\00-TOC.doc i LSA ASSOCIATES, INC. BASEBALL STADIUM IN THR DIRIDON/ARENA AREA EIR MAY 2010 FIRST AMENDMENT SUPPLEMENTAL (RESPONSE TO COMMENTS) TABLE OF CONTENTS Figures Figure III-2: Conceptual Site Plan....................................................................................................268 Tables Table 1: Weekday Evening Special Events in Downtown San José during the 2009 Baseball Season .............................................................................................. 12 Table 2: Existing Freeway Segment Levels of Service ...............................................................50 Table V-1: Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program...........................................................272 P:\SJO0903 Baseball Stadium\PRODUCTS\RTC\Final\00-TOC.doc ii I. INTRODUCTION A. PURPOSE OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT This document has been prepared in the form of an amendment to the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (Draft SEIR) prepared for the Baseball Stadium in the Diridon/Arena Area project (proposed project). The Draft SEIR identifies the likely environmental consequences associated with the implementation of the proposed project, and recommends mitigation measures to reduce potentially significant impacts. This First Amendment provides responses to comments on the Draft SEIR and makes revisions to the Draft SEIR, as necessary, in response to these comments or to clarify any errors, omissions, or misinterpretations of material in the Draft SEIR. This document, together with the Draft SEIR, constitutes the Final SEIR for the proposed project. B. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESS According to CEQA, lead agencies are required to consult with public agencies having jurisdiction over a proposed project, and to provide the general public with an opportunity to comment on the Draft EIR. The Draft SEIR for the proposed project was made available for public review on February 12, 2010, and distributed to local and State responsible and trustee agencies. The public was notified of the availability of the Draft SEIR through an advertisement in the San Jose Mercury News and through an announcement posted on the City of San Jose website. The Draft SEIR was posted electronically on the City’s website and a hard copy was available for public review at the City of San Jose Planning Department and at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library of the San Jose Library system. The CEQA-mandated 45-day public comment ended on March 29, 2010. The Diridon Area Good Neighbor Committee provided comments on the Draft SEIR at their February 17, 2010 meeting. The City also conducted one community review session during the comment period on March 18, 2010. The public had the opportunity to submit written comments at the meeting. The City received a total of 8 comment letters from State, regional and local agencies during this period. No federal comment letters were received. Twenty-eight comment letters were received from community organizations and individuals. Two comment cards were submitted at the community review session. The Final SEIR will be presented to the Planning Commission at a public hearing on May 19, 2010 during which the Commission may certify the Final SEIR as a full disclosure of the potential environmental effects of the proposed modified project. The City Council will consider and make written findings for the Final SEIR taken together with the original, final Baseball Stadium EIR, previously certified in 2007, when it considers whether or not to approve a ballpark project. The City Council would also adopt the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP) for the modified ballpark project, which is provided in Chapter V of this First Amendment to SEIR. The MMRP has been formulated based upon the findings of the final 2007 Baseball Stadium EIR, the Draft SEIR, and this First Amendment to SEIR for the proposed Baseball Stadium in the Diridon/Arena Area – P:\SJO0903 Baseball Stadium\PRODUCTS\RTC\Final\1-intro.doc (5/5/2010) 1 LSA ASSOCIATES, INC. BASEBALL STADIUM IN THE DIRIDON/ARENA AREA SUPPLEMENTAL EIR APRIL 2010 FIRST AMENDMENT (RESPONSE TO COMMENTS) I. INTRODUCTION modified project. All mitigation measures from the 2007 Baseball Stadium EIR are included in the MMRP, with the exception of the mitigation measures for Transportation, Circulation and Parking. As a result of the supplemental analysis in the Draft SEIR, the Transportation, Circulation and Parking mitigation measures from the 2007 Baseball Stadium EIR have been replaced with those recommended in the Draft SEIR. In addition, three mitigation measures have been modified (CULT- 3, NOISE-2, and NOISE-3) and one new mitigation measure has been added (GCC-1). Full environmental review for a modified ballpark project, as described in the Final SEIR, consists of the original 2007 Baseball Stadium EIR, as revised by the Final SEIR. Except as modified by the discussion, disclosures, analyses and mitigation measures described in the Final SEIR, the environmental review and the mitigation measures set forth in the final 2007 Baseball Stadium EIR pertain and apply to a modified ballpark project as described in the Final SEIR. C. DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION This First Amendment consists of the following chapters: • Chapter I: Introduction. This chapter discusses the purpose and organization of this First Amend- ment. • Chapter II: List of Commenting Agencies and Individuals. This chapter contains a list of all agencies, organizations, and persons who submitted written comments on the Draft SEIR during the public review period. • Chapter III: Comments and Responses. This chapter contains reproductions of all comment letters received on the Draft SEIR. A written response for each CEQA-related comment received during the public review period is provided. Each response is keyed to the preceding comments. • Chapter IV: Draft EIR Text Revisions. Corrections to the Draft SEIR necessary in light of the comments received and responses provided, or necessary to clarify any errors, omissions, or misinterpretation, are contained in this chapter. Text in underline represents language that has been added to the SEIR; text with strikeout has been deleted from the SEIR. Revisions to figures are also provided, where appropriate. As mentioned previously, this document is an amendment to the Draft SEIR; the Final SEIR consists of this amendment and the February 2010 Draft SEIR. • Chapter V: Mitigation and Monitoring Program. This chapter contains a table outlining the process for implementing and monitoring mitigation measures identified in the SEIR. The table describes the timing, responsible implementation and review parties, and the criteria for deter- mining mitigation measure implementation. P:\SJO0903 Baseball Stadium\PRODUCTS\RTC\Final\1-intro.doc (5/5/2010) 2 II. LIST OF COMMENTING AGENCIES, ORGANIZATIONS, AND INDIVIDUALS This chapter lists each letter received during the public review period and describes the organization of the letters and comments that are included in Chapter III of this document. A. ORGANIZATION OF COMMENT

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