|
Title:
|
Discussion of the January 2009 Recirculated Sections of Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Proposed Village at Playa Vista and Direction to Staff.
|
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
A10-1
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council discuss the January 2009 recirculated sections
of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (RS-DEIR) for the proposed Village at
Playa Vista and direct staff as deemed appropriate.
BACKGROUND:
The City of Los Angeles (LA) approved the Playa Vista Phase 2 Project – Village at
Playa Vista in 2004. Subsequently various entities filed judicial challenges to the
project. On September 13, 2007, a State Appellate Court panel issued a ruling in
two consolidated appeals. The Appellate Court ruling found in favor of LA’s approval
in some issues and on three specific issues found in favor of the appellant. These
issues concern the project’s Environmental Impact Report’s (EIR) land use
discussion, preservation-in-place of archaeological resources in the riparian corridor
and the availability of wastewater treatment capacity in the LA system to handle
anticipated wastewater from the project.
In May 2008, the Los Angeles County Superior Court issued a Judgment on the Writ
of Mandate (Judgment) that directed LA to vacate the project approvals and
certification of the EIR and revise the analysis of the three specific areas discussed
above (See RS-DEIR Appendicies). On July 9, 2008, the LA City Council complied
with the Judgment by vacating the project approvals and the certification of the EIR,
and directing the LA Department of Planning to revise the EIR in accordance with
the Judgment.
In January 2009, LA prepared and recirculated a RS-DEIR to address the three
areas discussed above. In addition to the three areas discussed above, the RS-
Meeting Date: 3/09/09 Item Number: A-10
AGENDA ITEM: Discussion of the January 2009 Recirculated Sections of Draft
Environmental Impact Report for the Proposed Village at Playa Vista and
Direction to Staff.
Contact Person/Dept.: John Rivera Phone Number: 310.253.5616
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [ x ] General Fund: Yes [] No [ x ]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: []
Public Notification: Posted on Culver City web page 03/06/09; Master Notification List
03/06/09.
Department Approval:
Charles D. Herbertson (03/06/09)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (03/06/09)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
JF for Jeff Muir (03/06/09)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (03/06/09) City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
A10-2
DEIR also includes a discussion of the project’s impacts regarding global climate
change. While the Judgment did not require the climate change issue to be
discussed, LA has included its analysis because the State has adopted new
legislation since certification of the original EIR for the project, requiring responsible
agencies to consider greenhouse gas emissions and climate change as part of the
CEQA process.
The City received the RS-DEIR on February 5
th
for review. Los Angeles established
a 45-day review and comment period that began on January 29
th
and ends on March
16
th
. City staff from Public Works, Planning, Transportation and the City Attorneys
Office immediately commenced with review of the document.
Since 1985, the City Council has consistently reconfirmed that the City's position
regarding the Playa Vista Project has been to ensure traffic and transportation
impacts on the City from the Playa Vista project are mitigated, as opposed to
seeking a fundamental challenge to the Project from land use, general
environmental and planning perspectives. As such, the City has had in place formal
agreements to ensure those impacts are mitigated. The original agreement was
signed on October 15, 1993 and subsequently amended in 1995, 1996, 2002 and
2004, which collectively are the “Culver City Agreement” (Agreement). The last
formal Council action related to the Playa Capital Company, LLC (PCC) and the
Agreement occurred in open session on May 17, 2004, at which time the Council
approved the Fourth Amendment to the Agreement approving a “Mitigation Program”
to address “traffic, traffic related and transportation impacts” of the “Phase 2” project,
the Village at Playa Vista. None of the issues addressed in the RS-DEIR deal
specifically with the issues Culver City has historically determined were of issue,
which are traffic, transportation and park use impacts. As such the RS-DEIR was
not referred to the City Council for review when staff received it on February 5
th
.
DISCUSSION:
As discussed above, the Court Judgment is narrowly tailored to direct LA to only
revise the EIR analysis in three specific areas, namely i) land use impacts; ii)
discussion of the preservation-in-place for resources of an archeological nature; and
ii) identification of the intended and likely measures to dispose of the project’s
wastewater and analysis of the environmental impacts of employing those measures
to dispose of the wastewater generated by the project, including cumulative impacts
to the Santa Monica Bay.
City staff reviewed the RS-DEIR analysis of land use impacts to ensure there were
no traffic, transportation and park use related changes that might affect the City.
The project’s development proposal has not been changed and no new impacts City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
A10-3
were identified and are not anticipated by staff. Therefore staff has no
recommended comments regarding this issue.
Staff reviewed the wastewater flow analysis to ensure that the City’s Amalgamated
Agreement with the LA for sewage treatment at the Hyperion Sewage Treatment
Plant was not compromised. The project’s development proposal has not been
changed and no new impacts were identified and are not anticipated by staff. The
project as analyzed in the RS-DEIR will not affect the City’s Amalgamated
Agreement with the LA for sewage treatment. Therefore staff has no recommended
comments regarding this issue.
The archaeological resources issue was not reviewed in detail as the potential
impact was considered to be localized to the project site.
Stall reviewed the global climate change discussion to determine if there was any
new project information that would create any new impacts on the City. The RS-
DEIR specifically references the Fourth Amendment to the Playa Vista Agreement
and the transportation related mitigation included in the Agreement. The project’s
development proposal has not been changed and no new impacts were identified or
are anticipated by staff. Therefore staff has no recommended comments regarding
this issue.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no direct fiscal impact to the City anticipated from the RS-DEIR, other than
the staff cost of review of the document. Any project related impact costs are
subject to the Fourth Amendment to the Playa Vista Agreement regarding the Village
Project which was approved May 17, 2004. Pursuant to the amendment, the City
would receive from PCC approximately $8 million for traffic signalization and
transportation improvements and funding for operation to implement mitigation
measures in various areas of the City.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. CD of the January 2009 Recirculated Sections of Draft Environmental Impact
Report for the Proposed Village at Playa Vista. City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
A10-4
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1. Discuss the January 2009 recirculated sections of the Draft Environmental
Impact Report (RS-DEIR) for the proposed Village at Playa Vista;
AND
2. Determine that no response to the RS-DEIR is necessary;
OR
3. Direct staff to submit comments to the RS-DEIR as determined by Council;
OR
4. Provide other direction to staff as deemed appropriate.