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HomeMy WebLinkAbout22411 RESOLUTION NO. 22411 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, CERTIFYING THE SUPPLEMENTAL EIR FOR THE SECTION 14 MASTER DEVELOPMENT PLAN/SPECIFIC PLAN. WHEREAS, on March 31, 2004, the City Council of the City of Palm Springs ("City") approved the Section 14 Master Development Plan/Specific Plan and certified the Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement ("FEIR/EIS") for this project; and, WHEREAS, on or about May 3, 2004, Dr. Jane Smith filed a Preemptory Writ of Mandate and Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief against the City challenging the City Council's approval of the Project and certification of the FEIR/EIS based on alleged violations of the California Environmental Quality Act, including, inter alia, alleged deficiencies in the FEIR/EIS' analysis of water supply impacts ("Section 14 Litigation"); and, WHEREAS, on or about July, 2007, the City entered into a Settlement Agreement with Jane Smith to resolve the Section 14 Litigation, which included a requirement that the City conduct further review and analysis of the Master Development Plan/Specific Plan's impact of water supply in a Supplemental EIR ("SEIR"); and, WHEREAS, in accordance with the Settlement Agreement, the City has prepared the SEIR to disclose additional information and analysis regarding the Master Development Plan/Specific Plan's impact of water supply; and, WHEREAS, the City has prepared this SEIR in compliance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the State CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Section 15000 et. seq., (CEQA Guidelines); and, WHEREAS, in accordance with the Settlement Agreement, all appropriate notices relating to the Final SEIR have been published in the Desert Sun and sent to the Office of Neighborhood Involvement to ensure that Dr. Smith, members of the public, and other public agencies received notice of the SEIR and had an opportunity to review and consider the SEIR; and, WHEREAS, on December 3, 2008, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing to consider the approval and certification of the SEIR; and at which hearing the Council received and considered a staff report, associated documents, and public testimony both oral and written; and WHEREAS, upon hearing and considering all testimony and arguments, if any, of all interested persons desiring to be heard, said City Council did make the following findings to certify said Final SEIR: Resolution No. 22411 Page 2 1. That the SEIR has been prepared and processed in compliance with the State CEQA Guidelines and the City's implementation procedures and reflects the City's independent judgment and analysis. The City Council has independently reviewed and considered the information contained in the EIR/EIS as revised by the SEIR and finds that it adequately describes and addresses the environmental effects of the Section 14 Master Development Plan/Specific Plan. 2. That the City determined, based on the circumstances set forth in Public Resources Code §21166 and 14 Cal. Code of Regulations §15162, that a Subsequent EIR was not required; however, the City determined that a "Supplement" to the Section 14 Master Development Plan/Specific Plan Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement ("EIR/EIS") was required to update and expand the analysis of the Section 14 Master Development Plan/Specific Plan's impact on water resources. The SEIR concluded that the EIR/EIS adequately assessed the Section 14 Master Development Plan/Specific Plan's impact on all other environmental resources. 3. Based upon the SEIR, the comments received thereon, and the entire record of proceeding relating to the SEIR and the Section 14 Master Development Plan/Specific Plan update, the City Council finds as follows: WATER SUPPLY (1) Facts: a. The SEIR analyzes water supply impacts in Section III. As noted in the SEIR, DWA presently relies on multiple water supply sources to serve water demand within its service area. These supplies include, underlying groundwater from the Palm Springs Subarea of the Upper Whitewater River Subbasin, surface water, imported Colorado River water pursuant to an Agreement with Metropolitan Water District to exchange DWA's State Water Project allocation, and recycled water. b. Regarding the local groundwater supply, in 1964 the California Department of Water Resources estimated that the Palm Springs Subarea had approximately 4.4 million acre-feet of water in storage. Since the Department of Water Resources' estimate approximately 50 years ago, demand has exceeded the recharged supply in the Palm Springs Subarea and has resulted in a net reduction in water storage of approximately 220,000 acre-feet, leaving a current estimate of approximately 4.18 million acre-feet of water in storage in the Subarea- C. Build-out of the Master Development Plan/Specific Plan would result in an additional annual demand of 590 acre-feet (if 45 acres of development within Resolution No. 22411 Page 3 Section 14, which has been approved since the Council adopted the Master Development Plan/Specific Plan, are excluded) or 739 acre-feet of water (if this development is included in the demand estimate). d. The SEIR and the Water Supply Study conclude that DWA's has sufficient water supplies to serve this additional demand through at least 2030. The SEIR and WSS analyzed several different scenarios, ranging from a normal water year scenario to single and multiple dry year scenarios. Under each of these scenarios, the SEIR and WSS concluded that sufficient water supplies to serve build-out of the Master Development Plan/Specific Plan. The SEIR and WSS also utilized different assumptions regarding the availability of State Water Project in light of recent developments that resulted in across reductions of State Water Project water. Even under the most conservative scenarios that assume significantly less State Water Project water than has historically been allocated to DWA, DWA would have an adequate overall water supply to accommodate future demand within its service area, including Section 14. e. The SEIR also includes a comprehensive discussion regarding the significant water conservation measures that DWA, CVWD, and the City implement that will further reduce water demand in Section 14 and throughout the City and DWA service area. (See SEIR, Section III.C) In addition, the SEIR identifies general conservation measures that shall be imposed on all future development within Master Development Plan/Specific Plan area. Collectively, these regulations and mitigation measures will further reduce demand on water resources and minimize impacts. The mitigation measures identified in the SEIR have been incorporated into the Section 14 Master Development Plan/Specific Plan pursuant to the adopted Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program. (2) Finding: a. The Master Development Plan/Specific Plan would have a less than significant impact on water supply. Nonetheless, the SEIR identifies additional mitigation measures that will further reduce water supply impacts and these measures are hereby adopted.4. The Project will not be detrimental to the health, safety, or general welfare of the community, either indirectly, or directly, in that no significant unmitigated impacts were identified in the subject SEIR. 5. The Project will not have the potential to degrade the quality of the environment, substantially reduce the habitat of a fish or wildlife population to drop below self sustaining levels, threaten to eliminate a plant or animal community, reduce the number, or restrict the range of, rare or endangered plants or animals or eliminate important examples of the major periods of California history, or prehistory. 9 l Resolution No. 22411 Page 4 6. There is no evidence before the City that the Project will have the potential for an adverse effect on wildlife resources or the habitat on which the wildlife depends. 7. The Project does not have the potential to achieve short-term environmental goals, to the disadvantage of long-term environmental goals, as no significant effects on environmental factors have been identified by the SEIR. 8. The Project will not result in impacts, which are individually limited or cumulatively considerable when considering planned or proposed development in the immediate vicinity, as development patterns in the area will not be significantly affected by the Project- 9- The Project will not have environmental effects that will adversely affect the human population, either directly or indirectly, as no significant unmitigated impacts have been identified which would affect human health, risk potential or public services. 10. The City Council has fully considered the Final SEIR and the comments received thereon. 11. The Final SEIR reflects the independent judgment and analysis of the City Council. 12. The location of the documents which constitute the record of proceedings upon which the City Council decision is based upon is in the Palm Springs City Hall, Development Services Department, 3200 East Tahquitz Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262. 13. A Mitigation Monitoring Program (MMP), which is incorporated in the Final SEIR, is hereby adopted pursuant to Public Resources Code § 21081.6 in order to assure compliance with the mitigation measures during Project implementation. NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: 1. That the above recitations are true and correct, and constitute the findings of the City Council for this Final SEIR. 2. That it does hereby certify a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report for the Section 14 Master Development Plan/Specific Plan for the reasons set forth in this Resolution and as stated in the Final SEIR, on file in the Development Services Department_ Resolution No. 22411 Page 5 ADOPTED this 7t" day of January, 2009. David H. Ready, C' anager ATTEST: mes Thompson, City Clerk CERTIFICATION STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE ) ss. CITY OF PALM SPRINGS ) I, JAMES THOMPSON, City Clerk of the City of Palm Springs, hereby certify that Resolution No. 22411 is a full, true and correct copy, and was duly adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Springs on the 7ffi day of January, 2009, by the following vote: AYES: Councilmember Foat, Councilmember Hutcheson, Councilmember Weigel, Mayor Pro Tern Mills, and Mayor Pougnet. NOES: None. ABSENT: None- ABSTAIN: None. e�e mes Thompson, City Clerk f ity of Palm Springs, California ➢�� 12a� =