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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06052001 - C.154 T,C BOARD OF SUPERVISORS .•E's L' °� Con r FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE . s Costa DATE: JUNE 5, 2001 T"1'C011g'C•t County SUBJECT: AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL iIMPACT REPORTS SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION: DIRECT the Community Development Department to: 1. Ensure that the cost charged to the public for an environmental impact report (EIR) remains at approximately $50 or less by limiting, to the; extent possible, appendices and specialized printing costs. 2. Provide EIR documents in a CD-ROM format in order to reduce the costs to the public. 3. Make EIR documents accessible through the Department Web Page during the public review period, along with information regarding download times and other options available for obtaining EIR documents. BACKGROUND: On November 14, 2000, the Board of Supervisors referred to the Internal Operations Committee the review of charges for public copies of EIRs and the question of how EIR documents may be made more accessible and affordable to the public without overburdening the taxpayers. What prompted this referral was the cost of $176 to reproduce the full EIR plus appendices for the Camino Tassajara Combined General Plan Amendment Study. We met on May 7'h with the Deputy Community Development Director, who reported that the Camino Tassajara EIR was unusual in its complexity and the number of appendices, color prints :and foldout pages, which contributed to the high reproduction costs. In contrast, nearly all of the CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): )OkHN GIOIA MARK DeSAULNIER ACTION OF BOARD ON June 5, 2001 APPROVE AS RECOMMENDED_�X- OTHER i VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN XX UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ---- ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE AYES: NOES: SHOWN. ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTESTED June 5, 2001 CONTACT: JULIE ENEA (925)335-1077 JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR CC: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE STAFF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Y TY AffordalAe and Accessible EIR Documents June 5, 2001 Internal Operations Committee Page 2 EIRs issued by the Community Development Department over the past ten years cost between $30 and $40 each. Reproduction costs can be reduced by using standard paper, black ink and using citations to reference background documents rather than incorporating background documents into appendices. We are recommending all of these cost control reduction measures to the extent that they do not prevent a document from being understood. In addition to controlling costs, we discussed options for increasing the public accessibility of the documents. In addition to interested public agencies whose EIR documents are furnished at the applicant's expense, EIR documents are currently also furnished to public libraries and District Supervisors' offices serving the areas involved, and the Central Library. EIR documents may also be viewed at the Community Development Department (CDD). In addition to these locations, the CDD web page was identified as an option for furnishing both the EIR documents and information on other access options but, due to the lengthy download time estimates, was determined to be a secondary access point. We believe that the most convenient and affordable way to furnish EIR documents is on a CD-ROM, which is portable, provides high- speed access to various parts of the document, and for which the cost is not impacted by the use of color or non-standard page sizes. We would like to express our appreciation to the Community Development Department for presenting us with a thorough report and practical recommendations that will ensure affordable public access to EIR documents. CONTRA COSTA COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT 651 Pine Street, N. Wing - 4th Floor Martinez, CA 94553 Telephone: 335-1210 Fax: 335-1222 TO: Internal Operations Committee Supervisors Gioia and DeSaulnier FROM: Dennis M. Barry, AICP, Community Development Dir ctor By: Catherine Kutsuris, Deputy Director DATE: May 1, 2001 SUBJECT: Report on Reducing the Charges for Public Copies of Environmental Impact Reports As part of the Board's discussion on the hearing process for the Camino Tassajara Combined General Plan Amendment Study,the issue of the charges for public copies of environmental impact reports and how the reports may be made more accessible to the public was referred to the Internal Operations Committee. The Board also approved providing up to four free copies of the Camino Tassajara EIR to community organizations that requested them. The cost of the Draft EIR for the Camino Tassajara project was $70.00. For those that requested copies of the appendices, the cost increased to $176.00. The CEQA Guidelines(Section 15045)allows lead agencies to, "charge and collect a reasonable fee from the person or entity proposing the project in order to recover the estimated costs incurred in preparing environmental documents and for procedures necessary to comply with CEQA..." Consistent with this section, the Department charges an applicant the cost of preparing environmental documents, and the cost of reproducing copies for distribution to local and state agencies. CEQA Guidelines Section 15087(g) requires a lead agency to, "make copies of EIRs available to the public... by furnishing copies of draft EIRs to public library systems serving the area involved." This section further states that copies should also be available in the offices of the lead agency. There is no provision to allow the County to recover the cost from the applicant for providing EIRs to the public or to community groups at no charge. The Department's existing distribution process is consistent with CEQA Guidelines. Copies of the documents are sent to interested public agencies, to local libraries, and to the central library. Page 2 Copies are also made available in the Community Development Department offices. District Supervisors have also made copies available in their offices. Until this most recent draft EIR distribution, the cost of EIRs did not appear to generate concern. The few cases where individuals would express concern about the inability to pay for a document was handled by either using the existing publicly available documents or by providing one or two "loan" copies. It should be noted that almost all of the EIRs issued by the Community Development Department over the past ten years cost between $30.00 and $40.00. The higher cost for the Camino Tassajara EIR was caused by the use of color prints and by a change in referencing source documents. The Camino Tassajara Draft EIR included 28 color prints. That, along with a higher number of fold-out pages, increased the cost by approximately $30.00. Although color prints will increase the reader's understanding of the project and its impacts, the extensive use of these prints may ultimately reduce the public accessibility to the document because of the higher purchasing cost. This draft EIR also included a significant number of appendices, which cost $106.00 per set. CEQA Guidelines Section 15147 discusses the use of appendices,explaining that"highly technical and specialized analysis" should be placed in an appendix. The details of a traffic analysis is an example of a document that is commonly placed as an appendix to an EIR. The CEQA Guidelines also require that all source documents used for the preparation of an EIR be cited. Section 15148 of the CEQA Guidelines states, "Preparation of EIRs is dependent upon information from many sources, including engineering project reports and many scientific documents relating to environmental features. These documents should be cited but not included in the EIR." It would not be uncommon to have up to 100 or more citations in a complex EIR. In this most recent case, many of the documents which were cited in the draft EIR as an "appendix" should have been listed as a"citation"(source document). Referencing information as an appendix leaves the reader with the impression that the document cannot be fully understood without the supplemental materials. The listing of a number of documents as appendices and the use of color copies and foldouts increased the printing cost from what would have normally been about$50.00 to $176.00. Recommendation: Direct the Community Development Department to ensure that the cost charged to the public for an EIR document remains at approximately $50.00 or less by citing source documents and by balancing the benefits of specialized printing with the increased cost. In addition to increasing accessibility by controlling costs,there are other steps that can be taken to increase the public's access to environmental documents. The most promising approach is to have EIR documents available in a CD Rom version. The Department has located two firms which can readily produce an EIR document on a CD Rom for approximately$10.00. In addition to its wide Page 3 application (i.e. most computers in homes currently have CD Rom capability), the use of a CD Rom version provides high speed access to various parts of the document. In addition, the color prints which add substantially to the cost of a hard copy,have little affect on the cost of a CD Rom. The Department has also investigated placing the documents on the Community Development Department Web page. The CEQA Guidelines specifically encourage public agencies to make EIR documents available on a web site. It should be understood that the size of EIR documents combined with the rather"low speed"internet connections that are common in residences,results in a long "download" time. Maps and other figures which may be readily viewed in a CD Rom version, also increase the download time. Although there may be limited use of the internet to access an EIR document because of the download time,it is a viable option for some residents and should be instituted. The web page should include an explanation of the expected downloading time as well as the other options for obtaining the document. Recommendations: • Direct the Community Development Department to provide EIR documents in a CD Rom version in order to reduce the costs to the public. • Direct the Community Development Department to make EIR documents accessible through the Department Web page during the public review period, along with information regarding download times and the other options available for obtaining EIR documents. If you have any questions or would like additional information prior to your meeting, please call me at extension 5-1210. TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ; Contra FROM: DENNIS M. BARRY, AICP t Costa COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR �T,, County DATE: November 14, 2000 SUBJECT: REPORT ON HEARING PROCESS FOR THE CAMINO TASSAJARA COMBINED GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT STUDY SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS ACCEPT report and APPROVE recommendation to conduct public hearings by the joint County Planning Commission and San Ramon Valley Regional Planning Commission,and the Board of Supervisors based on the entirety of the proposals (requested General Plan Amendment, Rezoning, Development Plan, and Subdivision Map) for Alamo Creek and Intervening Properties/Remaining Intervening Properties as contained in the Camino Tassajara Combined General Plan Amendment Study. FISCAL IMPACT None. Any additional costs associated with the recommended approach to the public hearing process would be borne by the applicants through their application fees. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR _RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON November.-•14*2000 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED XX OTHER XX SEE THE ATTACHED ADDENDUM FOR BOARD ACTION AND VOTE vo F SUPE ORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND U NIM US( BSENT CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND YES: N S: ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF ABSENT: AB SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN Contact P.Roche,CDD-AP(925)335-1242 ATTESTED November 14 , 2000 cc: Community Development Dept. PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF CAO SUPERVISORS AN#CUNTY ADMININISTRATOR County Counsel Chair,Contra Costa County Planning Commission Chair,San Ramon Valley Regional Planning Commission g , DEPUTY November 14, 2000 Board of Supervisors Hearing Process for the Camino Tassajara Combined General Plan Amendment Study Page 2 BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS On October 17, 2000, the Board of Supervisors conducted a hearing on the administrative appeals of the Sierra Club-Mt. Diablo Group and the Blackhawk Homeowners Association concerning the extension of the comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Camino Tassajara Combined General Plan Amendment Study. At this meeting, staff was asked to report back to the Board at the November 14, 2000 meeting on the feasibility and advisability of considering the entirety of the proposals for Alamo Creek and Intervening Properties/Remaining Intervening Properties through the public hearing process. (The entirety of the proposal would include the requested General Plan Amendment, Rezoning, Development Plan, and Subdivision Map). In addition,the County Planning Commission and San Ramon Valley Regional Planning Commission were each asked to review this concept and provide the Board with a recommendation. This matter was brought before both the County Planning Commission and the San Ramon Valley Regional Planning Commission at their joint public hearing conducted on October 26, 2000. Each of the commissions adopted positions in favor of this approach to the . public hearing. In the course of discussing this matter, members from both commissions strongly indicated the following preferences: 1) continue the joint public hearing already initiated on the General Plan Amendment matter so that the many people who had previously filled out speaker cards would be given an opportunity to address the commissions in joint hearing; 2) if the Board directs the commissions to resume the hearing on the basis of considering the entirety of the project proposals,the Continued Joint Public Hearing should be scheduled to a date,time, and location following the release of the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) document (SRVRPC position was that joint hearing should not resume until at least 7 days after release of FEIR so that the commission and public would have adequate time to review the document);and 3)as appropriate, provide a new hearing notice for the Continued Joint Public Hearing.When addressing this matter at the October 26, 2000 joint hearing under public comment, the attorney representing the applicants and several members from the public spoke in favor of this approach. Staff notes that the County's consideration ofthe entirety of a development proposal through the public hearing process at both the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors is not unprecedented. This approach has been taken in previous years for several large-scale development proposals that due to their complexity required a more comprehensive and deliberative review by the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors. Given the complexity of the issues and the high degree of public interest by nearby residents and two adjoining cities (Danville and San Ramon), staff recommends that the joint public hearing by the County Planning Commission and San Ramon Valley Regional Planning Commission for the Camino Tassajara Combined General Plan Amendment Study be continued based on the consideration of the entirety of the proposals for Alamo Creek and Intervening/Remaining Intervening Properties. The entirety of the proposals November 14, 2000 Board of Supervisors Hearing Process for the Camino Tassajara Combined General Plan Amendment Study Page 3 BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS - continued would include the applicants' respective General Plan Amenc[ment, Rezoning, Development Plan, and Subdivision Map. Staff further recommends that the Continued Joint Public Hearing be scheduled following the release of the Final Environmental Impact Report and that it be scheduled to a date, time and location within the San Ramon Valley to facilitate review, comment, and participation in the planning process by interested members of the public. ADDENDUM TO ITEM D.3 November 14, 2000 Agenda On the above date, the Board considered this report on the hearing process for the Camino Tassajara Combined General Plan Amendment Study(See attached). Dennis Barry, Community Development Department Director, presented the staff report. Also present were Patrick Roche, Community Development Department, and Silvano Marchesi, Chief Assistant County Counsel. Following Board discussion, Supervisor Gerber offered the following motion: that the Board accept the staff report and recommendations; that the Board direct staff to schedule Planning Commission hearings after November 30,2000, and not before January 2001, to allow time for the presentation of the Final Environmental Impact Report(EIR), and to allow Commissioners time to review it; and that the Final EIR be made available at no cost to the public and agencies requesting a copy. The public hearing was opened and the following people appeared to speak: Ralph Hoffinann, Board of Directors, Greenbrook Homes Association, Inc., 60 Saint Timothy Court, Danville; and Marcus O'Connell, 3206 Esperanza, Concord. Those desiring to speak having been heard, the Board considered the issues. Supervisor Gerber advised that her motion was still being considered. Supervisor Goia noted that whatever steps were taken with regard to the free EIR, it would set a precedent for future projects and that concept should be examined. Supervisor Canciamilla inquired about the cost and Mr. Barry responded that a full set would be $146.00 including the EIR and appendices. Supervisor Uilkema suggested that the issue of free EIRs be resolved in a separate motion, since it may set a precedent. She stated she would not be supporting the motion since it has always been her practice to consider the General Plan Amendment separately from the rezoning, the development plan, and the subdivision map. Supervisor Gerber agreed to separate the motion. She restated that her motion was to accept the staff report and recommendations; that the Board direct staff to schedule Planning Commission hearings after November 30, 2000, and not before January 2001, to allow for time for the presentation of the Final Environmental Impact Report(EIR), and to allow Commissioners time to review it. 3 Supervisor Canciamilla seconded the motion. The vote was as follows: AYES: SUPERVISORS GIOIA, DeSAULNIER, CANCIAMILLA and GERBER NOES: SUPERVISOR UILKEMA ABSENT: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE Supervisor Gerber moved that the Board make the Final EIR available at no cost to the public. The motion failed for lack of a second. Supervisor Canciamilla requested verification that the local libraries and the area City Halls are provided copies of the EIR so they are available to the public for inspection. Mr. Barry stated that was true. Supervisor Canciamilla moved that the County provide up to 4 free copies of the EIR to community organizations that requested them, and the issue of what and how the County charges for EIRs be referred to next year's Internal Operations Committee with the idea of how to make them more accessible and available to the public without overburdening taxpayers. Supervisor Gioia seconded the motion. The vote on the motion was as follows: AYES: SUPERVISORS GIOIA, UILKEMA, DeSAULNIER, CANCIAMILLA and GERBER NOES: NONE ABSENT: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE 4