Transit Center District Plan and Transit Tower
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COMMENTS AND RESPONSES ON DRAFT EIR Transit Center District Plan and Transit Tower PLANNING DEPARTMENT CASE NO. 2007.0558E and 2008.0789E STATE CLEARINGHOUSE NO. 2008072073 Draft EIR Publication Date: SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 Draft EIR Public Hearing Date: NOVEMBER 3, 2011 Draft EIR Public Comment Period: SEPTEMBER 28 THROUGH NOVEMBER 28, 2011 Final EIR Certication Date: MAY 24, 2012 May 10, 2012 To: Members of the Planning Commission and Interested Parties From: Bill Wycko, Environmental Review Officer Re: Attached Comments and Responses on Draft Environmental Impact Report Case No. 2007.0558E: Transit Center District Plan and Case No. 2008.0789 Transit Tower Attached for your review please find a copy of the Comments and Responses document for the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the above‐referenced project. This document, along with the Draft EIR, will be before the Planning Commission for Final EIR certification on May 24, 2012. Please note that the public review period ended on November 28, 2011. The Planning Commission does not conduct a hearing to receive comments on the Comments and Responses document, and no such hearing is required by the California Environmental Quality Act. Interested parties, however, may always write to Commission members or to the President of the Commission at 1650 Mission Street and express an opinion on the Comments and Responses document, or the Commission’s decision to certify the completion of the Final EIR for this project. Please note that if you receive the Comments and Responses document in addition to the Draft EIR, you technically have the Final EIR. If you have any questions concerning the Comments and Responses document or the environmental review process, please contact Sarah B. Jones at (415) 575‐ 9034. Thank you for your interest in this project and your consideration of this matter. COMMENTS AND RESPONSES ON DRAFT EIR Transit Center District Plan and Transit Tower PLANNING DEPARTMENT CASE NO. 2007.0558E and 2008.0789E STATE CLEARINGHOUSE NO. 2008072073 Draft EIR Publication Date: SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 Draft EIR Public Hearing Date: NOVEMBER 3, 2011 Draft EIR Public Comment Period: SEPTEMBER 28 THROUGH NOVEMBER 28, 2011 Final EIR Certication Date: MAY 24, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Transit Center District Plan and Transit Tower EIR Comments and Responses Page A. INTRODUCTION C&R-1 B. LIST OF PERSONS COMMENTING C&R-3 C. REVISIONS TO THE PROPOSED PROJECT C&R-4 Transit Center District Plan C&R-4 Transit Tower C&R-10 D. SUMMARY OF COMMENTS AND RESPONSES C&R-12 General Comments [comments coded beginning with “G”] C&R-12 EIR Summary [Sum] C&R-18 Project Description [PD] C&R-18 Aesthetics [AE] C&R-35 Population and Housing, Business Activity and Employment [PH] C&R-44 Cultural and Paleontological Resources [CP] C&R-50 Transportation [TR] C&R-57 Noise and Vibration [NO] C&R-75 Air Quality [AQ] C&R-79 Shadow and Wind [SH] C&R-80 Recreation and Public Space [RE] C&R-101 Biological Resources [BI] C&R-102 Public Services and Utilities [UT] C&R-103 Geology, Soils, and Seismicity [GE] C&R-106 Hazards and Hazardous Materials [HZ] C&R-110 Cumulative Impacts [CU] C&R-112 Alternatives [ALT] C&R-113 Comments on the Merits of the Proposed Project [P] C&R-119 E. REVISIONS TO THE DRAFT EIR C&R-121 ATTACHMENT 1: Comment Letters ATTACHMENT 2: Public Hearing Transcript LIST OF FIGURES C&R-1. Office and Residential Development: Demand Versus Capacity, 2007 - 2035 C&R-26 C&R-2 Downtown San Francisco Steam Loop C&R-34 C&R-3 Cumulative Visual Simulations: Bay Bridge Upper Deck C&R-43 C&R-4 Potential First and Mission Streets Historic District C&R-56 C&R-5 Key to Shadow Impacts C&R-90 C&R-6 Diffuse Shadow Cast by Transamerica Pyramid, December 6 C&R-97 Case Nos. 2007.0558E and 2008.0789E C&R-i Transit Center District Plan and Transit Tower 207439\ Page LIST OF FIGURES (cont’d.) Revised Draft EIR Figures Revised Figure 1 – Project Location Following C&R-139 Revised Figure 3 – Existing and Proposed Height Limits Following C&R-139 Revised Figure 7 – Existing and Proposed Conservation and Following C&R-139 National Register Districts Revised Figure 30B – Visual Simulations: Yerba Buena Gardens Following C&R-139 Revised Figure 34A – Visual Simulations: Twin Peaks Following C&R-139 Revised Figure 34B – Visual Simulations: Twin Peaks Following C&R-139 LIST OF TABLES C&R-1 Select Residential Development Projects in the Plan Area C&R-45 Revised Draft EIR Table Revised Table 41 – Shadow on Section 295 Parks from Development Following C&R-139 in the Plan Area Case Nos. 2007.0558E and 2008.0789E C&R-ii Transit Center District Plan and Transit Tower 207439\ Comments and Responses A. Introduction Purpose of the Comments and Responses Document This document contains public comments received on the Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR, or DEIR) prepared for the proposed Transit Center District Plan and Transit Tower project (State Clearinghouse No. 2008072073), and responses to those comments. Also included in this document are text changes initiated by Planning Department staff as well as text changes in response to comments on the Draft EIR. Environmental Review Process On September 28, 2011, the San Francisco Planning Department published the Draft EIR on the Transit Center District Plan and Transit Tower office project for public review and comment. The public review and comment period on the document extended from September 28 through November 28, 2011.1 During the 61‐day public review period, the San Francisco Planning Department received written comments sent through the mail or by hand‐delivery, fax, or email (see Attachment A). Oral comments were received at the public hearing on the Draft EIR, held before the Planning Commission on November 3, 2011. A court reporter was present at the public hearing, transcribed the oral comments verbatim, and prepared a written transcript (see Attachment B). This Comments and Responses document has been distributed to the San Francisco Planning Commission, State Clearinghouse, agencies and individuals who commented on the Draft EIR. This document, which responds to comments received on the Draft EIR and includes associated revisions to the Draft EIR, in combination with the Draft EIR, constitutes the Final EIR for the Transit Center District Plan and Transit Tower project. The Final EIR must be certified by the Planning Commission prior to consideration of the proposed project for approval. Document Organization Following Section A, Introduction, Section B contains a list of all persons and organizations who submitted written comments on the Draft EIR and who testified at the public hearing on the Draft EIR held on November 3, 2011. Section C presents a discussion of revisions to the proposed Transit Center District Plan and the Transit Tower introduced since the publication of the Draft EIR. This section also discusses any changes in impacts as a result of the revisions to the project. Section D contains verbatim transcriptions of substantive comments on the Draft EIR made orally during the public hearing and received in writing during the public comment period, from September 28 through November 28, 2011. Comments are grouped by environmental topic and generally correspond to 1 Although the DEIR public comment period was intended to run from September 28 through November 14, 2011, the comment period was extended for two weeks by the Planning Commission on November 3, 2011. Case Nos. 2007.0558E and 2008.0789E C&R-1 Transit Center District Plan and Transit Tower 207439 Comments and Responses A. Introduction the table of contents of the Draft EIR. However, if no comments addressed a particular topic, that topic does not appear in this document. The name of the commenter is indicated following each comment summary. In the text of the comments, an ellipsis (…) standing alone as a separate paragraph indicates that one or more paragraphs in a comment are not included in the quoted text, either because those portion(s) of the comment appear under another topic or because they do not address substantive issues with respect to the EIR. Section E contains text changes to the Draft EIR made by the EIR preparers subsequent to publication of the Draft EIR to correct or clarify information presented in the DEIR, including changes to the DEIR text made in response to comments. Section E also contains revised DEIR figures. Some of the responses to comments on the Draft EIR provide clarification regarding the DEIR; where applicable, changes have been made to the text of the DEIR, and are shown in double underline for additions and strikethrough for deletions. Some comments made both in writing and at the public hearing were directed towards the merits of the proposed Transit Center District Plan and/or Transit Tower. No responses need be provided to these comments, unless they concern the adequacy or accuracy of the EIR. In some instances, however, additional information is given. The comment letters received and the transcript of the public hearing are reproduced in Attachments 1 and 2, respectively. These comments and responses will be incorporated into the Final EIR as a new chapter. Text changes resulting from comments and responses will also be incorporated in the Final EIR, as indicated in the responses. Case Nos. 2007.0558E and 2008.0789E C&R-2 Transit Center District Plan and Transit Tower 207439 Comments and Responses B. List of Persons Commenting Written Comments Public Agencies Gary Arnold, District Branch Chief, Local Government – Intergovernmental Review, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), letter, November 28, 2011 Ryan Miya, Senior Hazardous Substances Scientist, Northern California – Coastal Cleanup Operations Branch, California Department of Toxic Substances Control, letter, October 28, 2011 Val Joseph Menotti, Planning Department Manager, Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), letter, November 23, 2011 Ron Downing, Director of Planning, Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and Transportation District (GGBHTD); letter, November 14, 2011 Charles Edwin Chase, President, San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), letter, November 30, 2011 Irina P.