Item 26 - Public Hearing Regarding Bristol Project

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Response to Comment L15: William Taylor dated August 12, 2024 Comment L15.1: This comment states that the Project should not be approved based on the traffic impact alone and that there will be a noise and pollution impact based on the project size. The comment states that there is already a lot of congestion in the area and adding units to the area would result in significant delay. The comment states that the area already has adequate grocery stores and restaurants so no more are needed and the area cannot handle that much population density. The comment states that the Project should be rejected. Response L15.1: The comment does not raise any specific environmental concern with the analysis within the Draft SEIR. As discussed in Section 5.1 Air Quality, Emissions from operation of the proposed Project would exceed SCAQMD's thresholds for NOx and ROG after implementation of existing regulations and mitigation. The majority of NOx emissions are from vehicles and the majority of ROG emissions would be derived from consumer products, neither of which the Project applicant nor the City have the ability to reduce emissions of. Therefore, both NOx and ROG emissions from implementation of the proposed Project would result in both a project level and a cumulatively considerable significant and unavoidable impact. Hence, Impacts AQ-1 and AQ-2 would be significant and unavoidable after mitigation. However, the Project would result in a less than significant localized significance and health risk impact to the nearest sensitive receptors located 130 feet west of the Project site throughout all phases of development with the implementation of General Plan FEIR Mitigation Measures AQ-1 and AQ-2 as well as Project Mitigation Measures AQ-1 through AQ-6. In addition, as discussed in Section 5.9 Noise, noise impacts to the nearest sensitive receptors located 130 feet west of the Project site would be less than significant throughout all phases of development and full buildout of the Specific Plan. Therefore, the Project would not result in significant air quality or noise impacts on nearby residents. Draft SEIR Section 5.13 Transportation, details that Senate Bill (SB) 743 changes include the elimination of auto delay, LOS, and similar measures of vehicular capacity or traffic congestion as the basis for determining significant impacts. As part of the 2019 amendments to the State CEQA Guidelines, SB 743 directed that the revised CEQA Guidelines "shall promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of multimodal transportation networks, and a diversity of land uses" (Public Resources Code Section 21099[b][1 ]); and that "automobile delay, as described solely by level of service or similar measures of vehicular capacity or traffic congestion, shall not be considered a significant impact on the environment" (Public Resources Code Section 21099[b][2]). As such, pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21099(b)(2), the SEIR focuses on analysis of Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) criteria and improvements to the circulation system along the Project's frontage to accommodate buildout of the proposed Project, pursuant to the City's recent General Plan Update. Further yet, the SEIR is not required to analyze impacts related to traffic congestion. Nevertheless, a Traffic Impact Analysis was prepared for the Project and is publicly available on the City's Project website. This comment will be forwarded to all decision makers as part of the staff report for the Project. 33