III. Responses to Comments
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III. Responses to Comments III. Responses to Comments A. Introduction CEQA Guidelines Section 15088(a) states that “The lead agency shall evaluate comments on environmental issues received from persons who reviewed the Draft EIR and shall prepare a written response. The lead agency shall respond to comments that were received during the notice comment period and any extensions and may respond to late comments.” In accordance with these requirements, this section of the Final EIR provides responses to each of the written comments received regarding the Draft EIR. Topical responses have been prepared to address commonly raised topics. These topical responses are provided in Section III.B, Topical Responses, of this section of the Final EIR and include the following: Topical Response 1: Project Objectives and Selection of Alternatives Topical Response 2: Feasibility of Preservation Alternatives Topical Response 3: Rent Stabilization Ordinance and Resident Retention Plan Topical Response 4: Relationship of Density to Environmental Impacts Topical Response 5: Open Space Topical Response 6: Summary of Traffic Impacts, Project Features, Mitigation Measures, and Area Improvements Topical Response 7: Circulation Topical Response 8: Summary of Construction Impacts A matrix providing an overview of the environmental topics raised by each commentor is provided in Table FEIR III-2 on page III-67 in Section III.C, Comments Matrix, of this section of the Final EIR. This matrix is followed by responses to each of the written comments received. City of Los Angeles Boyle Heights Mixed-Use Community Project SCH. No. 2008061123 December 2012 Page III-1 WORKING DRAFT – Not for Public Review III. Responses to Comments B. Topical Responses 1. Project Objectives and Selection of Alternatives Several comments on the Draft EIR raise concerns regarding the adequacy of project objectives under CEQA, claiming that the project objectives are “narrowly defined” to “favor demolition” rather than preservation of the existing Wyvernwood community. These comments misconstrue the purpose of the project objectives, as defined by CEQA, and the way the objectives relate to each of the alternatives to the proposed project. This topical response provides an explanation of the requirements for the selection of project objectives under CEQA, a description of the process by which the alternatives were properly identified and analyzed under CEQA, and a summary of the findings of the Draft EIR’s alternatives analysis, including the ability of the alternatives to meet the project objectives. Identification of Project Objectives CEQA Guidelines §15124(b) states that the project description shall contain “a statement of the objectives sought by the proposed project.” CEQA Guidelines §15124(b) further states that “the statement of objectives should include the underlying purpose of the project.” As stated on page II-12 of the Draft EIR, the underlying purpose of the proposed project is to create a mixed-use community featuring a substantial amount of new, upgraded, and modernized housing stock integrated with retail, office, and neighborhood- oriented uses to serve the local and regional communities, as well as considerable open space and recreational facilities, resulting in an attractive, cohesive, planned development, with no net loss of rental housing, and no involuntary displacement of existing residents. Section II, Project Description, of the Draft EIR includes the complete list of the project’s specific objectives. The objectives of the project are listed within the following categories: (a) Development and Site Design Objectives; (b) Community Objectives; and (c) Economic Objectives. The Development and Site Design Objectives are further grouped into the following subcategories: (1) Housing; (2) Civic Uses and Open Space/Recreational Uses; (3) Design, Parking, and Circulation; and (4) Infrastructure and Energy Efficiency. In accordance with CEQA, the project objectives include specific goals that would enable the proposed project to achieve its underlying purpose as stated above. City of Los Angeles Boyle Heights Mixed-Use Community Project SCH. No. 2008061123 December 2012 Page III-2 WORKING DRAFT – Not for Public Review III. Responses to Comments Some comments indicate a concern that in order to reject rehabilitation alternatives, page V-88 in Section V, Alternatives, of the Draft EIR misstates the project’s objective as seeking to create “substantial amount of new housing stock.” The use of the word “new” in this context was intended to indicate “additional housing” as compared to “new construction.” Purpose of Project Objectives and Relationship to Project Alternatives The primary purpose of the project objectives is to help the Lead Agency develop a reasonable range of alternatives to evaluate in the EIR and aid the decision makers in preparing findings or a statement of overriding considerations, if necessary (CEQA Guidelines §15124(b)). As discussed in Section V, Alternatives, of the Draft EIR, the identification and analysis of alternatives to a project is a fundamental aspect of the environmental review process under CEQA. Public Resources Code §21002.1(a) establishes the need to address alternatives in an EIR by stating that in addition to determining a project’s significant environmental impacts and indicating potential means of mitigating or avoiding those impacts, “the purpose of an environmental impact report is... to identify alternatives to the project.” The CEQA Guidelines emphasize that the selection of project alternatives be based primarily on the ability to reduce impacts relative to the proposed program, “even if these alternatives would impede to some degree the attainment of the project objectives, or would be more costly.” The Guidelines further direct that the range of alternatives be guided by a “rule of reason,” such that only those alternatives necessary to permit a reasoned choice are addressed. CEQA Guidelines §15126.6(a) states: “An EIR shall describe a range of reasonable alternatives to the project, or to the location of the project, which would feasibly attain most of the basic objectives of the project but would avoid or substantially lessen any of the significant effects of the project, and evaluate the comparative merits of the alternatives. An EIR need not consider every conceivable alternative to a project. Rather it must consider a reasonable range of potentially feasible alternatives that will foster informed decision-making and public participation. An EIR is not required to consider alternatives, which are infeasible. The lead agency is responsible for selecting a range of project alternatives for examination and must publicly disclose its reasoning for selecting those alternatives. There is no ironclad rule governing the nature or scope of the alternatives to be discussed other than the rule of reason.” In selecting project alternatives for analysis, potential alternatives must pass a test of feasibility. CEQA Guidelines §15126.6(f)(1) states that: City of Los Angeles Boyle Heights Mixed-Use Community Project SCH. No. 2008061123 December 2012 Page III-3 WORKING DRAFT – Not for Public Review III. Responses to Comments “Among the factors that may be taken into account when addressing the feasibility of alternatives are site suitability, economic viability, availability of infrastructure, general plan consistency, other plans or regulatory limitations, jurisdictional boundaries, and whether the proponent can reasonably acquire, control or otherwise have access to the alternative site....” It should be noted that when assessing feasibility in connection with the alternatives analysis in the EIR, the initial question is whether the alternative is potentially feasible. A number of factors that may be taken into account when addressing the feasibility of alternatives are listed in CEQA Guidelines §15126.6(f)(1). Like mitigation measures, potentially feasible alternatives “are suggestions which may or may not be adopted by the decisionmakers.” (No Slo Transit, Inc. v. City of Long Beach (1987) 197 Cal.App.3d 241, 256, 242 Cal.Rptr. 760; accord, Native Sun/Lyon Communities v. City of Escondido (1993) 15 Cal.App.4th 892, 908, 19 Cal.Rptr.2d 344, questioned on another point in Griset v. Fair Political Practices Com. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 688, 698, 107 Cal.Rptr.2d 149, 23 P.3d 43.) When it comes time to decide on project approval, the public agency’s decision-making body evaluates whether the alternatives are actually feasible. (Mira Mar, supra, 119 Cal.App.4th at p. 489, 14 Cal.Rptr.3d 308; Guidelines, §15091, subd. (a)(3).) As indicated above, the intent of the alternatives analysis is to reduce the significant impacts of a project. As summarized in Section VI, Other CEQA Considerations, of the Draft EIR, implementation of the project would result in significant and unavoidable short- term construction impacts with regard to air quality (for both regional and local emissions) and noise. Implementation of the project would also result in significant and unavoidable long-term operational impacts with regard to aesthetics/visual quality (due to the removal of an identified historic resource from the project site), air quality (regional emissions only), historic resources, traffic (at six study intersections and intrusion into nearby neighborhoods (to the extent the neighborhoods are unable to reach consensus on the required mitigation plan), and solid waste generation. Based on the significant environmental impacts of the project,