05-11-20_AGENDA PACKET - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

The Bowery Mixed-Use Project CEQA Findings of Fact City of Santa Ana 56 May 2020 SECTION VII RESOLUTION REGARDING ALTERNATIVES The City of Santa Ana hereby declares that it has considered and rejected as infeasible the alternatives identified in the EIR and described below. Section 15126.6 of the State CEQA Guidelines requires an EIR to describe a range of reasonable alternatives to the Project, or to the location of the Project, which could feasibly achieve most of its basic objectives, but would avoid or substantially lessen any of the significant effects identified in the EIR analysis. An EIR is not required to consider every conceivable alternative to a proposed project. Rather, an EIR must consider a reasonable range of alternatives that are potentially feasible; an EIR is not required to consider alternatives that are infeasible. In addition, an EIR should evaluate the comparative merits of the alternatives. Therefore, this section sets forth the potential alternatives to the Project analyzed in the EIR and evaluates them in light of the objectives of the Project, as required by CEQA. Objectives The following objectives have been identified in order to aid decision makers in their review of the proposed Project and its associated environmental impacts. • Develop a mixed-use Project that constructs new multi-family residential units, which would help meet the region’s demand for housing. • Transform an underutilized site with an economically viable development consistent with other regional redevelopment in the Tustin Legacy Specific Plan and Irvine Business Complex (IBC) and combines residential uses with community-serving retail near employment opportunities, freeway access, and transit. • Redevelop existing land uses that would utilize existing infrastructure, including: water, sewer, arterial roadways, transit, and freeways; and provide non-vehicular (pedestrian and bicycle) circulation. • Develop a mix of housing to assist the City in meeting its jobs/housing balance. • Provide onsite uses that reduce vehicular miles traveled (VMT) by providing an internal pedestrian circulation system that links residential uses, recreation areas, and retail/commercial areas onsite. • Implement the SCAG Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS) Land Use Policies related to population and housing by providing additional housing near employment centers. Alternatives Key provisions of the State CEQA Guidelines relating to the alternatives analysis (Section 15126.6 et seq.) are summarized below: • The discussion of alternatives shall focus on alternatives to the Project or its location that are capable of avoiding or substantially lessening any significant effects of the Project, even if these alternatives would impede to some degree the attainment of the Project objectives or would be more-costly. 3-78