HomeMy WebLinkAboutEQCB Min 2008-03-26
CITY OF SEAL BEACH
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Environmental Quality Control Board
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Minutes of March 26, 2008
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7 Chairperson Voce called the meeting of the Environmental Quality Control Board
8 (EQCB) to order at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26, 2008. The meeting was held in
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9 City Manager’s Conference Room.
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I Roll Call
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14 Present: Chairperson Voce, Members Barton, Hurley, Neal, and Vineyard
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16 Also
17 Present: Department of Development Services
18 Lee Whittenberg, Director of Development Services
19 Jerry Olivera, Senior Planner
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21 Absent: None
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II Approval of Agenda
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26 MOTION by Hurley; SECOND by Vineyard to approve the Agenda as presented.
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MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0
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AYES: Voce, Barton, Hurley, Neal, and Vineyard
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NOES: None
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ABSENT: None
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III Oral Communications
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35 None.
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IV Consent Calendar
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39 1. Receive and File – Staff Report Re:"Final Technical Memorandum -
40 Installation Restoration Program Site 70 – Installation of Enhanced In Situ
41 Bioremediation System, Well Installation Phase - Naval Weapons Station, Seal
42 Beach,” Dated February 27, 2008.
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These Minutes were transcribed from an audiotape of the meeting.
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1 2. Receive and File - Staff Report Re:Air Resources Board Presentations Re:
2 “Proposed Greenhouse Gas Measure” and “Proposed Statewide Diesel Truck
3 and Bus Regulations,” Dated February 27, 2008.
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5 3. Receive and File - Staff Report Re: Presentation Re: “Advances in Our
6 Understanding of the Major Sources Contributing To Ambient Particulate Matter
7 In California,” Dated February 27, 2008.
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9 4. Receive and File - Staff Report Re: “California Wildlife: Conservation
10 Challenges,” Dated February 27, 2008.
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12 5. Receive and File - Staff Report Re: “Orange County Council of Governments
13 Comment Letter Re: SCAG Draft 2008 Regional Transportation Plan Growth
14 Forecasts and Draft 2008 Regional Transportation Plan Program Environmental
15 Impact Report” and executed City of Seal Beach comment letters, Dated
16 February 27, 2008
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18 6. Receive and File – Staff Report Re: “California Air Resources Board Staff
19 Report: Initial Statement of Reasons, 2008 Proposed Amendments to the
20 California Zero Emission Vehicle Program Regulations,” Dated February 27,
21 2008.
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23 7. Receive and File - Staff Report Re: Documents Regarding Climate Change,
24 Dated February 27, 2008.
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26 8. Receive and File - Staff Report Re: Responses to Comments and Final
27 Environmental Assessment Re: “SCAQMD Proposed Rule 445 – Wood
28 Burning Devices,” Dated February 27, 2008.
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30 9. Receive and File – Interoffice Memorandum Re: Long Beach Home Depot
31 Project Status – EIR Inadequate, Dated March 10, 2008.
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33 MOTION by Hurley; SECOND by Barton to approve the Consent Calendar as
34 presented.
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MOTION CARRIED: 5 – 0
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AYES: Voce, Barton, Hurley, Neal, and Vineyard
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NOES: None
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ABSENT: None
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V Scheduled Matters
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43 10. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – January 30, 2008.
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Recommendation:
45 Approve Minutes subject to any corrections determined
46 appropriate.
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Meeting Minutes of March 26, 2008
1 Member Hurley noted that he would abstain from voting on this item, as he was not
2 present for the meeting of January 30, 2008.
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4 Mr. Whittenberg noted that Member Neal would also abstain, as she also was not
5 present at that meeting.
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7 Member Hurley then noted changes to Page 4, Line 27, to read “He recommended
8 approval . . .,” and on Page 6, Line 25, he asked what the acronym “OCP” represents.
9 Mr. Whittenberg clarified that this is an acronym for Orange County Projections. Mr.
10 Hurley asked that this be spelled out.
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12 Member Vineyard noted a correction to the designation for votes on Page 7, Line 9,
13 which should read “AYES.”
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15 MOTION by Barton; SECOND by Vineyard to approve the Meeting Minutes of January
16 30, 2008 as amended.
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MOTION CARRIED: 3 – 0 – 0 – 2
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AYES: Voce, Barton, and Vineyard
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NOES: None
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ABSENT: None
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ABSTAIN: Hurley and Neal
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25 11. Public Meeting to Review Initial Study/Negative Declaration 08-1, “Adoption Of
26 New Zoning Code - Title 11 – Seal Beach Municipal Code” and Receive Public
27 Comments and Provide Board Comments
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29 Recommendation: Receive presentation from Staff regarding the proposed
30 project and the environmental review process. Receive comments from the
31 public and provide any Board comments regarding the proposed Initial
32 Study/Negative Declaration (ND). Receive and File Staff Report.
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34 Staff Report
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36 Mr. Whittenberg explained that the City has been working on developing a new Zoning
37 Code (ZC) for approximately two years, with the last 13 months spent on joint study
38 sessions with City Council (CC) and the Planning Commission (PC), or PC study
39 sessions alone to work through the provisions of the new document. He explained that
40 this is a complete rewriting of the ZC, which has not been done since 1974. He stated
41 that the Initial Study/Negative Declaration 08-1 basically indicates that the City has
42 prepared a document and the adoption of this document will have no environmental
43 impacts, as no construction is authorized. He stated that the analysis shows that future
44 projects constructed under the new standards will still be required to go through the
45 City’s CEQA review process. He indicated that the actual adoption of the controlling
46 document for future developments does not create environmental impacts. He noted
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City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board
Meeting Minutes of March 26, 2008
1 that the IS/MND is currently in its review period, which will end on April 11, 2008. He
2 explained that the PC has already conducted one public hearing on the ZC, and will
3 conduct another tonight at 7:30 p.m., and CC is scheduled to begin public hearings on
4 this document on April 14, 2008, with the IS/MND being presented to CC on April 21,
5 2008, along with responses to any comments received. He noted that so far the only
6 comment received is from the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)
7 stating that adopting a ZC document is not a regionally significant project. He noted
8 that the Board does have until April 11, 2008, to provide comments.
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10 Board Questions/Comments
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12 Member Hurley asked to which environmental aspects the major changes of the ZC
13 would relate. Mr. Whittenberg stated that the ZC now includes a lot of graphic material
14 providing sketches of ideas on how people can accomplish some of the proposed new
15 standards. He noted that the three major aspects that are significantly different from the
16 current document are:
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18 1. Currently the PC reviews Minor Plan Reviews (MPR) and Height Variations (HV)
19 for certain types of developments primarily on residential properties. CC has
20 proposed creation of an Administrative Review Permit (AUP) process where Staff
21 will send out notices and conduct a meeting and have approval authority for
22 these types of projects, with the PC still conducting hearings for Conditional Use
23 Permits and Variances, etc. AUPs would also be subject to the appeal process.
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25 2. With regard to residential design, there is now a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) provision
26 incorporated into the ZC, which places a square footage limit on the size of
27 habitable area for a residence. There are also provisions for daylight planes,
28 which will prevent constructing a “cube” type structure up to the maximum height
29 and out to the property line setbacks.
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31 3. The issue of how big a third floor living area can be constructed caused
32 approximately 70% of the comments received during the study sessions. The
33 new ZC proposes to cut down the size of what can be constructed on third floors
34 by approximately 40-50%.
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36 Chairperson Voce clarified that the new ZC now provides specific standards for third
37 story construction. Mr. Whittenberg confirmed that this is correct.
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39 Member Hurley stated that he has several corrections to be made. Chairperson Voce
40 requested that any grammatical or punctuation corrections be provided to Staff at the
41 end of tonight’s meeting. Member Hurley then referred to the RM&G Advisor in Item 7
42 and noted that the report states that the new statute requires discussion of greenhouse
43 gas in environmental documentation. He proposed adding to the IS/MND between No.
44 IV Biological Resources on Page 14 and V. Cultural Resources on Page 15 the title
45 “Climate Change,” using the following text: a) “Would the project have a significant
46 adverse affect on the climate? (No Impact)”, followed by a paragraph stating: “The
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City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board
Meeting Minutes of March 26, 2008
1 proposed project consists of the adoption of a Comprehensive Zoning Code Update.
2 However, the proposed project does not authorize any physical alterations and/or
3 development of any properties at this time. Potential future development projects would
4 be subject to further review, including possible discretionary actions, and environmental
5 analysis, once detailed project development plans are filed with the City for
6 consideration. The project does not propose any physical modifications to properties
7 (i.e. grading, construction, etc.). Therefore, the proposed project will not have a
8 substantial adverse effect on the climate.”
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10 Member Barton stated she was not entirely clear on all of the changes to the ZC and
11 inquired about the outcome for third story standards. Mr. Whittenberg explained that
12 with the exception of the Rossmoor Townhomes and the Oakwood Apartments, the only
13 district that will be allowed three stories on lots 37.5 feet or wider would be the Old
14 Town RHD-20 District. He noted that third stories would only be allowed on the rear
15 portion of these lots.
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17 Mr. Whittenberg then indicated that Staff would incorporate the EQCB comments in the
18 Response to Comments document and would provide the Board with a copy prior to the
19 CC hearings.
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VI Staff Concerns
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23 None.
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VII Board Concerns
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27 Member Hurley stated that after completing much reading related to climate change, as
28 he understands, since there are no check marks on any of the factors that would
29 determine the effect on the environment, it appears as though the ZC revision would not
30 be subject to CEQA and the IS/MND was not necessary. Mr. Whittenberg explained
31 that generally the language Member Hurley referred to relates to an individual who
32 applies for a building permit to construct something that meets all City standards and in
33 many cases would not be subject to discretionary action. He continued by noting that
34 any discretionary action taken by the City in adopting the ZC or a General Plan, etc., or
35 to approve a Conditional Use Permit (CUP), must go through some type of
36 environmental analysis, as by definition under CEQA, any discretionary action is
37 considered to have a potential effect in which it is evaluated. As such, it is subject to
38 the Initial Study process to evaluate potential impacts of that discretionary action. He
39 noted that for many years the City Attorney has advised that an environmental analysis
40 be prepared in case a challenge to a discretionary action is presented. Member Hurley
41 insisted that completion of the Initial Study would determine the potential for impacts
42 and whether a MND is required. Mr. Whittenberg noted that the document presented
43 tonight comprises the Initial Study, with the Negative Declaration being only 2 pages.
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45 Chairperson Voce discussed how a large new project can affect the carbon footprint,
46 and how to reduce this. He noted that he read an article in the ”Los Angeles Times” this
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City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board
Meeting Minutes of March 26, 2008
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week, describing recent findings on particulates in the atmosphere and noting that soot
really does heat the air. He stated that having this matter in the air for just a few weeks
can spread over snow and cause warming, but it also gets into the lungs before it
settles out. He added that this is in relation to diesel particulate matter and burning of
anything, which causes carbon particles. He noted that with the proximity of Seal
Beach to the Long Beach Harbor, the community is subject to diesel matter and soot.
He stated that the Board must be concerned not only with greenhouse gases but also
with carbon particles, which essentially contribute to climate change.
VIII Adjournment
Chairperson Voce adjourned the meeting at 7:18 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
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Carmen Alvarez, Executive Secretary
Department of Development Services
The Board on June 25, 2008, approved the Minutes of the Environmental Quality
Control Board of Wednesday, March 26, 2008. ~ .
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