Item 18 - Appeal Application Nos. 2023-02 and 2023-03 for Cabrillo Town Center project

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in the Certified EIR, and no changes are proposed to the Overlay Zone to accommodate the Project. Further, in compliance with Mitigation Measure MM-OZ 4.12-2, a site -specific traffic study has been prepared for the Project by Linscott, Law & Greenspan Engineers that analyzes the potential traffic impacts consistent with the methodology in the Certified EIR (refer to Attachment G). The Project traffic study concludes that the Project's fair share contribution to following specific improvement measures from the list in the Certified EIR that would mitigate potential impacts: Cabrillo Park Drive/Fourth Street: Widen and provide the additional right-of-way required to construct an exclusive westbound right -turn lane with 125-feet of storage and 90-feet transition. Modify the existing traffic signal as necessary. SR 55 SR Ramat Fourth Street: Modify the eastbound shared through/right-turn lane to construct a free -right turn lane. Modify the existing traffic signal as necessary. This improvement is subject to the review and approval of the City of Santa Ana, City of Tustin and/or Caltrans. SR 55 NB Ramps at Fourth Street: Modify the eastbound approach to provide dual left -turn lanes and two through lanes. Modify the existing traffic signal as necessary. This improvement is subject to the review and approval of the City of Santa Ana, City of Tustin and/or Caltrans. Per Mitigation Measure MM-OZ 4.12-2, these improvement measures would be implemented as a condition of the Project, either through the direct construction of improvements or through payment of a fair share contribution fee, as required by the program detailed in Mitigation Measure MM-OZ 4.12-4. Accordingly, the Project's trips were accounted for in the Certified EIR, and with the required mitigation, the Project would not result in any new or increased significant LOS impacts beyond those already identified in the Certified EIR. Since adoption of the Certified EIR, the LOS metric for analyzing transportation and traffic impacts under CEQA has been replaced with a VMT analysis to address consistency with CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.3(b). However, recent California case law confirms that CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.3(b) only applies prospectively to CEQA documents that have not yet been circulated for public review and not to CEQA documents that rely on previously certified EIRs that complied with applicable CEQA requirements when publicly reviewed. The court in Olen Properties Corp. v. City of Newport Beach (2023) 93 Cal.App.5th 270 explicitly recognizes that VMT impacts were known of and understood at the time the EIR in that case was certified (i.e., 2006, just like the Certified EIR for the Overlay Zone) and therefore do not constitute new information that would trigger recirculation. Thus, a project relying on a previously certified EIR under CEQA Guidelines 15168(c) is not required to provide a VMT analysis if: (1) the previously certified EIR evaluated transportation impacts based on LOS and (2) the subsequent project is within the scope of the impacts assessed in the previously certified EIR and any applicable mitigation measures are adopted The 2006 Certified EIR was certified well before CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.3(b) was adopted and relies on an LOS analysis, not a VMT analysis, to analyze the Overlay Zone's transportation impacts. The CEQA findings associated with the Project will not be circulated for Cabrillo Town Center City of Santa Ana Technical Memorandum August 2023 City Council 18 — 628 10/3/2023