Item 28 - Public Hearing - Amendment Application for the Village Santa Ana Specific Plan

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION These California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations are for The Village Santa Ana Specific Plan Project, herein referred to as the "Project." The City of Santa Ana (lead agency) prepared a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to the City's General Plan Update (GPU) Final Program EIR (GPU PEIR) (State Clearinghouse No. 2020029087) for the Project. The GPU PEIR was certified by the City on April 19, 2022. 1.1 STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS CEQA requires that a number of written findings be made by the lead agency in connection with certification of an EIR prior to approval of a project pursuant to Sections 15091 and 15093 of the State CEQA Guidelines and Section 21081 of the Public Resources Code (PRC). The State CEQA Guidelines Section 15091 provides that: (a) No public agency shall approve or carry out a project for which an EIR has been certified which identifies one or more significant environmental effects of the project unless the public agency makes one or more written findings for each of those significant effects, accompanied by a brief explanation of the rationale for each finding. The possible findings are: (1) Changes or alterations have been required in, or incorporated into, the project which avoid or substantially lessen the significant environmental effect as identified in the EIR. (2) Such changes or alterations are within the responsibility and jurisdiction of another public agency and not the agency making the finding. Such changes have been adopted by such other agency or can or should be adopted by such other agency. (3) Specific economic, legal, social, technological, or other considerations, including provision of employment opportunities for highly trained workers, make infeasible the mitigation measures or project alternatives identified in the final EIR. In short, pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines sections 15091 (a) and (b), CEQA requires that the lead agency adopt mitigation measures or alternatives, where feasible, to avoid or mitigate significant environmental impacts that would otherwise occur with implementation of a proposed project. However, project mitigation or alternatives are not required, where they are infeasible or where the responsibility for modifying a proposed project lies with another agency. Pursuant to PRC Section 21081(b), when a lead agency approves a project with significant effects that cannot be mitigated to a less -than -significant level, the public agency is required to find that specific overriding economic, legal, social, technological, or other benefits of the proposed project outweigh the significant effects on the environment. State CEQA Guidelines Section 15093(a) states that: If the specific economic, legal, social, technological, or other benefits... of a proposed project outweigh the unavoidable adverse environmental effects, the adverse environmental effects may be considered "acceptable." City of Santa Ana The Village Santa Ana Specific Plan Project August 2025 CEQA Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations 1-1