Laserfiche WebLink
The Bowery Mixed -Use Project <br />CEQA Comment <br />May 11, 2020 <br />Page 12 <br />Smith, p. 4. <br />It would be an abuse of discretion far the City to approve the EIR because the traffic <br />analysis fails to include relevant information, as discussed above, which precludes informed 10 <br />decision making and informed public participation. By failing to disclose the full extent of the <br />Project's traffic impacts, the EEZ fails as an informational document. <br />C. THE PROJECT WILL RAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON <br />POPULATION AND HOUSING BECAUSE IT WILL DISCLOSE 200 <br />HOMELESS PEOPLE, RESULTING IN THE NEED FOR NEW <br />HOUSING. <br />CEQA requires the lead agency to determine whether the "environmental effects <br />of a project will cause substantial adverse effects on human beings, either directly or indirectly." <br />Pub Res. Code § 21083(b)(3), (d)_ CEQA Guidelines Appendix O, Section XIV provides that a <br />project will have a significant impact on population and housing if it will "[djisplace substantial <br />numbers of existing people or housing, necessitating the constructionof replacement housing <br />elsewhere." <br />Here, 30,000 square feet of the Project site is currently being used as a homeless shelter, <br />housing 200 homeless. DEIR 5.1 I-3. By converting the homeless shelter into market rate <br />housing the Project will displace up to 200 people, who by definition have no other housing <br />The DEIR claims that the Project would not displace substantial numbers of existing <br />people or housing, necessitating the construction ofreplacement housing elsewhere. DEIR, <br />5.11-11. The DEIR supports this conclusion based solely on the statement that "Santa Am is <br />working on various homeless shelter solutions, including the purchase of a permanent homeless <br />shelter site, that are anticipated to be available for the existing persons on the Project site priorto <br />construction of the proposed Project." Id. This statement does not constitute substantial <br />evidence to support the DEIR's conclusion that the Project will not have a significant impact. <br />Whilo Santa Ana may be working on -carious homeless shehor solutions," this is not <br />evidence that up to 200 homeless people will be displaced as a result of the Project, and those <br />200 people will require housing elsewhere. Moreover, if the City is looking to purchase a <br />perniancnt homeless shelter site, it will need to construct replacement housing on that site, <br />constituting a significant impact under CEQA. <br />The City's conclusion that the Project will not have a signil icanl impact stemming Cram <br />displacement of up to 200 homeless people violates C 14QA becawo it is not supponcd by <br />substantial evidence_ <br />75C-28 <br />