3 - The Bowery_PUBLIC COMMENT_RAMSEY

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10.0 Project Alternatives Avion Project SEIR Page 10-1 Chapter 10 Project Alternatives The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15126.6 requires that an environmental impact report (EIR) compare the effects of a “reasonable range of alternatives” to the effects of a project. The alternatives selected for comparison should be those that would attain most of the basic project objectives and avoid or substantially lessen one or more significant effects of the project. The “range of alternatives” is governed by the “rule of reason,” which requires the EIR to set forth only those alternatives necessary to permit an informed and reasoned choice by the lead agency and to foster meaningful public participation (CEQA Guidelines Section 15126.6[f]). CEQA generally defines “feasible” to mean an alternative that is capable of being accomplished in a successful manner within a reasonable period of time, while also taking into account economic, environmental, social, technological, and legal factors. The project would result in potentially new site-specific significant, direct, and/or cumulative environmental impacts to land use, biological resources, landform alteration/visual quality, air quality, and noise beyond those previously identified in the 1998 EIR. Mitigation measures have been identified that would reduce all new direct and cumulative impacts to below a level of significance, with the exception of impacts to landform alteration/visual quality. In developing the alternatives to be addressed in this section, consideration was given to their ability to meet the basic objectives of the project and eliminate or substantially reduce significant environmental impacts. As identified in Chapter 3.0, project objectives include the following: • Provide residential development that is consistent with the location and the goals and objectives of the adopted Black Mountain Ranch Subarea Plan. • Provide new residential development, which is consistent with existing residential development patterns in the surrounding area. • Implement “smart growth” principles of development through the provision of new residences within a complete master planned community. • Implement sustainable development principles through the provision of a community of new residences with many energy-efficient features. • Provide infrastructure improvements consistent with the Subarea Plan. The alternatives identified in this chapter are intended to further reduce or avoid significant environmental effects of the project. This chapter addresses the No Project (No Development) Alternative and the Reduced Development Footprint Alternative. Each major issue area included in the impact analysis of this Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) has been given consideration in the alternatives analyses, and impacts are summarized in Table 10-1.