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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEQCB Min 2001-03-14 .~ 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 .22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 .45 CITY OF SEAL BEACH Environmental Quality Control Board Minutes March 14, 2001 The special meeting of the Environmental Quality Control Board (EQCB) of March 14, 2001 was called to order by Chairperson Porter at 6:30 p.m. The meeting was held in the City Manager Conference Room. Pledge of Allegiance II Roll Call Present: Absent: Also Present: Chairperson Porter, Members Hurley, and Voce Members Jones and Unrath Department of Development Services Mac Cummins, Assistant Planner Mr. Cummins noted that Member Unrath had indicated that he would be unable to attend tonight's meeting. He also reported that he had not heard from Member Jones as to why he would no be in attendance. Chairperson Porter asked that the record show that Members Jones and Unrath are excused from tonight's meeting. III Approval of Agenda MOTION by Hurley; SECOND by Voce to approve agenda as presented. MOTION CARRIED: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: 3-0-2 Hurley, Porter, and Voce None Jones and Unrath IV Oral Communications None. \\sCULL Y\CARMEN\EQCB\03-14-01 EQCB Minutes.doc 1 .~ 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 .23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 .46 City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board Meeting Minutes of March 14, 2001 V Consent Calendar None. VI Scheduled Matters 1. Review of Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration 00-1 (Pacific Gateway Business Center - Boeing Realty Corporation). Recommendation: Board review Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration 00-1 for Parcel Map 2000-134 (the Pacific Gateway Business Center project), receive a presentation from City Staff, receive public comments and provide Board comments to Staff regarding the adequacy subject Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND). Mr. Whittenberg noted that the purpose of the Board reviewing this document was to provide comments on the document, and they would not be approving a resolution or motion of any kind. Vice-Chairperson Hurley stated that he seemed to recall that previously on Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) the Board did make recommendations to the City Council. Mr. Whittenberg stated that eventually the Board would do this, but during this Public Comment Period on the Draft MND, the Board would simply makes comments that would be incorporated in a City Response to Comments Letter. After the document is formalized, it will return to the EQCB and the Board can then make recommendation to the Planning Commission that the document is adequate. Vice-Chairperson Hurley asked if the new document would be in the form of a Volume 2. Mr. Whittenberg stated that it might just be in the form of a supplemental report. Vice-Chairperson Hurley asked if the deadline for completion was before April 4, 2001. Mr. Whittenberg said that there would be some extra time as the item had been continued until April 18, 2001. He noted that another special meeting of the EQCB would have to be scheduled in early April to review the Response to Comments document at which point the Board could express any additional concerns. Member Voce asked if there were any items scheduled for the agenda for the regularly scheduled meeting of March 28, "2001. Mr. Cummins reported that there were some "Receive and File" items, but he had no action items for that agenda. Mr. Whittenberg noted that the comment period for the MND ends on March 30, 2001, making it necessary to meet to review the comments on the document after this date. Member Voce asked when the comment deadline was changed. Mr. Whittenberg reported that when the document was sent to the State Clearinghouse, some of the copies were lost and the State was not able to begin the comment period until all of the documents were located, otherwise the comment period would have ended on March 16,2001. Member Voce stated that if there were no action items, the Board would not have to meet again until April. Mr. Cummins stated that this meeting could be scheduled as the regular meeting of the EQCB for March, and if any action items come up they would be placed on the agenda for the special meeting in April. Mr. Whittenberg reported that the public \\SCULL Y\CARMEN\EQCB\03-14-01 EQCB Minutes.doc 2 .~ 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 .23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 .46 City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board Meeting Minutes of March 14, 2001 hearing before the Planning Commission on this item has been scheduled for April 18, 2001. He stated that Wednesday, April 11, 2001 would probably be a good day for the EQCB to meet to discuss the comments the MND. Mr. Whittenberg provided a brief review of the MND and stated that the initial project did not have buildings, landscaping, or parking areas, but simply provided plans for subdivision of the property. After receiving comments on the first MND, Boeing took those comments and decided to make the project more focused. This MND reflects the subdivision plan and includes building designs, landscaping, and parking areas, all of which must be approved by the City and the Coastal Commission. This will make it possible to sell the properties with fully approved plans and Coastal permits and the owners will not have to return to the City for approvals. He noted that in making these revisions, the size of the buildings have been reduced to approximately 660,000 square feet, losing approximately 140,000 square feet of building area. He stated that the parking is approximately 50% more than what the City's requirements would be for this type of a project, and landscaping is more than City Code requires. In response to one of Member Voce's concerns, Mr. Whittenberg reported that one of the mitigation measures includes a provision for as much utilization of native drought resistant plants as possible. He stated that some of the comments from the City Engineering Department reflect concerns from the Island Village in Long Beach about loading dock behind the buildings along the border of Island Village being located behind the buildings and glare from lighting of those areas. He noted that for those buildings the loading docks have been designed on a side of the buildings away from Island Village. Vice-Chairperson Hurley confirmed that Boeing would be constructing the buildings. Mr. Whittenberg stated that Boeing does intend to construct the buildings, but if someone buys the property and wants to use their own contractor, Boeing will provide the plans for construction of the building to the builder. Member Voce asked if the property owners wanted to make any revision to the plans, would they have to come before the City for approval of these changes? Mr. Whittenberg confirmed that this would be correct. He also noted that once these changes are made, the MND would have to be modified because when the square footage for the buildings is reduced, traffic impacts are reduced as well as some of the other impacts noted in the original document. He stated that the main purpose of the MND was to allow the public to review the document to see if they agree that the impacts identified in the document are mitigated down to a level of "less than significant." He said that if the determination is that certain impacts cannot be mitigated to a "less than significant" level, then this MND is not longer valid and the City must complete an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) because there are impacts that cannot be mitigated. He reported that at this point Staff feels that all impacts that have been identified can be mitigated. He reminded the Board members that they would revisit this item before it is presented to the Planning Commission at which time the Board will make recommendation to the Planning Commission and ultimately to City Council as to whether or not the EQCB feels the MND is adequate under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) provisions for a Mitigated Negative Declaration. He said that at that time Staff would also have a resolution prepared for review by the Board. \\SCULLY\CARMEN\EQCB\03-14-01 EQCB Minutes.doc 3 .~ 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 .23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 .46 City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board Meeting Minutes of March 14, 2001 Mr. Whittenberg then introduced Mr. Craig Hoffman from Project Dimensions, the company working with Boeing Realty in preparing the plans for the project. Mr. Hoffman displayed the Conceptual Site Plan for the property and Mr. Whittenberg provided a brief description of the plan. Mr. Hoffman described the plan for water quality and retention for the site. Vice-Chairperson Hurley asked about the loading docks on Building 4. Mr. Hoffman explained that the buildings have been designed to move all noise generating activities to the center of the site, with the building itself to shield and act as a noise buffer. Vice-Chairperson Hurley asked what the distance was between Island Village and the Boeing property. Mr. Whittenberg reported that the distance is 232 feet. Member Voce asked if there would be any need for a sound wall. Mr. Whittenberg responded that they did not anticipate the need for one. Member Voce asked about the water retention area. Mr. Hoffman explained that there would - be a depression in the landscape that would essentially function like a bioswale. Mr. Whittenberg stated that the landscaping was designed to hold the first %" of storm water. Member Voce asked when construction would begin. Mr. Hoffman stated that the anticipated start time would be sometime during the second quarter of next year. Member Voce asked about the light industrial uses and how possible toxic substances would be handled. Mr. Whittenberg reported that the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) would control all these. He noted that in order for the OCFA to approve the buildings for use the business owners must report what the anticipated uses of the buildings will be. Member Voce said that he was concerned about toxic substances getting into the water through the sewer lines. Mr. Whittenberg stated that any waste would be carried through the sewer system for treatment and would not go directly into water sources. Member Voce asked about what preventative measure would be taken to prevent hazardous wastes from getting into storm water. Mr. Whittenberg stated that if there were certain types of hazardous materials in wastewater, these would have to be corrected and disposed of separately. Member Voce asked if this was controlled by the state. Mr. Whittenberg reported that this is controlled California Environmental Protection Agency. Vice-Chairperson Hurley asked why there were 7 lots and only 6 buildings. Mr. Hoffman indicated that Lot 7 would be a landscaped lot. Mr. Whittenberg noted that no construction was to be allowed on this lot. Member Voce asked about the use of palm trees in the landscape drawings. Mr. Hoffman explained that the palm trees would be used at the entry to create a "thematic" business center type of approach, but that the remaining landscape would use more evergreen and native type trees and plants. Chairperson Porter asked if new traffic lights were to be installed. Mr. Whittenberg reported that there would be a new traffic light installed at the Westminster Blvd. entrance and at Adolfo Lopez Drive. He noted that the developer would be responsible for complete paving and landscaping improvements along Adolfo Lopez Drive. Member Voce recommended that the MND include more discussion regarding water quality, mitigation of circuit production water discharge, governing agencies for regulation for water quality. \\sCULL Y\CARMEN\EQCB\03-14-01 EQCB Minutes.doc 4 .~ 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 .23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 .46 City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board Meeting Minutes of March 14, 2001 Vice-Chairperson Hurley stated that he would provide to the Director of Development Services a handwritten copy of his comments, and noted that he would like to receive a written response to these comments. Vice-Chairperson Hurley commented that when EQCB had reviewed the November 2000 MND, he had requested that text be included regarding the effects of noise levels from the construction affecting the residents of Leisure World. He said that this had not been done. He referred to Lines 6, 7 and 8 on Page 24, of Paragraph 1.8 ending with "housing units within 525 acres, " and noted that this statement should be further expanded to reflect the special nature of the Leisure World population. He recommended adding the following text: Sixty of these housing units are located directly across Westminster A venue from the proposed Parcels 1 and 2. Of the approximately 8,300 residents in Leisure World, approximately 90% (7,500) are over the age of 65. Vice-Chairperson Hurley said that he believed this statement would be helpful with regard to full disclosure. He then referred to Page 74, Section 3.11 a, 2nd Paragraph under Short-Term Construction. He stated that the noise decibel figures used in the first three sentences are misleading, because they do not describe the potential noise impact upon Leisure World residents across the street. He noted that even the stated median dBA range of 72.5 would be uncomfortable for these residents. Vice-Chairperson Hurley then referred to Page 75, 2nd sentence in the top paragraph, which reads: At this preliminary stage, the exact type and number of equipment to be used on the project site is not known. He stated that this text is misleading because the City would know exactly what type of road equipment would be necessary to construct a public roadway. He referred to the following paragraph and said that he did not understand why excessive construction noise is "less than significant" simply because it is temporary (Le. early 2002 to at least late 2002). He asked how long the high-noise generating earthwork would take. Mr. Hoffman reported that this work would take approximately 12 weeks. He said that this estimate differed from what was written in the MND. Mr. Hoffman stated that it would not be a continuous 12 weeks, but would be at different times. Vice-Chairperson Hurley said that the MND gives the impression that the loud earthwork would begin in early 2002 and would not end before December 2002. Vice- Chairperson Hurley asked for an explanation as to why "temporary" makes the noise "less than significant." He said that he could find nothing in the CEQA guidelines to support this. Vice-Chairperson Hurley again referred to the same paragraph, Lines 2 and 3 and noted that in another section of the MND the work hours are listed as 8:00 to 5:00 p.m. and here it shows 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Mr. Whittenberg reported that 7:00 a.m. to \\sCULL Y\CARMEN\EQCB\03-14-01 EQCB Minutes.doc 5 .~ 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 .23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 .46 City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board Meeting Minutes of March 14, 2001 8:00 p.m. are the hours that the City Code allows construction activity to occur on properties. Vice-Chairperson Hurley referred to the text that implies: .. .limiting construction hours near the residences to 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. will lower the decibel level to "less than significant" impact. Mr. Whittenberg noted that this text to this effect is found on Page 76 under Section 3.11-1 entitled Mitigation Measures and relates to the possible use of impact hammers and pile drivers. Vice-Chairperson Hurley asked why this information was not included in the second paragraph on Page 75. Mr. Whittenberg stated that the City did not anticipate using this type of equipment for this project, but if it were necessary the use of the equipment would be restricted to these hours. Vice-Chairperson Hurley asked why the short-term and long-term sound impacts were treated differently. He stated that it was necessary to add the construction noise to the existing noise level of 60.4, because the existing noise would not cease while the construction is taking place. He asked what the combined decibel level would be at 8:30 a.m. or 4:30 p.m. outside Leisure World Buildings 63, 65, 69, 70 and 72, each with 12 apartments. He said that it would not be unreasonable to believe that the noise level would be well above the projected 72.5 decibels. Vice-Chairperson Hurley then referred to Page 112, under the Noise section, Paragraph 3.11-1and noted that the listed hour restrictions are inadequate. He also remarked that restricting hours as the only way to make noise levels "less than significant" is inadequate. He said that at the very least mitigation measures must include the following: 1. Loud work restricted to non-rush hours. 2. A system for warning Leisure World residents at least 24 hours in advance when excessively noisy work must occur. 3. An independent on-call monitor to measure decibel levels outside residences when requested and to report findings to the City. Vice-Chairperson Hurley stated that despite everything he has discussed, to contend that the impact of the construction phase noise can be mitigated to "less than significant" levels is unreasonable; therefore, an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is needed. Mr. Whittenberg inquired of Vice-Chairperson Hurley's recommendation for notification to Leisure World residents. He asked if he was recommending that notification be made only to residents of those 5 buildings noted, or if he had a wider range in mind for notification in Leisure World. Vice-Chairperson Hurley said that as a part of the EIR the gathering of data should include what the current CNEL is outside the front doors of these 5 buildings and what it would be closer to the actual work site. He said that his main concern is with these 5 buildings. Member Voce asked if Vice-Chairperson Hurley was recommending \\sCULL Y\CARMEN\EQCB\03-14-01 EQCB Minutes.doc 6 . \ .~ 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 .23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 . City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board Meeting Minutes of March 14, 2001 that a more focused EIR on noise levels should be completed. Vice-Chairperson Hurley said this would be great. He said that he had no basis for complaining about anything else in the MND. Mr. Whittenberg thanked the board for their comments and stated that by law Staff is required to provide written responses to all comments received. He said that the Response to Comments document would be circulated back before the EQCB for review prior to making a recommendation to the Planning Commission. He also noted that a focused EIR could not be completed until after a full EIR has been completed. Vice-Chairperson Hurley asked that if an EIR were not done, how would changes be included in the MND. Mr. Whittenberg responded that if changes to the mitigation measures are made, they will be highlighted within the MND. VII Staff Concerns None. VIII Board Concerns Member Voce asked why the minutes from the February 2001 meeting had not been made available. Mr. Cummins reported that they were not yet complete. IX Adjournment Chairperson Porter adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m. to the special meeting of April 11, 2001 . Respectfully Submitted, ~~ Carmen Alvarez, Executive Secretary Department of Development Services The Board on April 25, 2001 approved the Minutes of the Environmental Quality Control Board of Wednesday, March 14,2001. ~. \\sCULL Y\CARMEN\EQCB\03-14-01 EQCB Minutes.doc 7