Item 18 - Appeal Application Nos. 2023-02 and 2023-03 for Cabrillo Town Center project

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Appeal — Cabrillo Town Center Mixed -Use Development Project May 3, 2023 Page 8 of 12 inform the public and its responsible officials of the environmental consequences of their decisions before they are made." Citi.Zens of Goleta Valley v. Board of Supervisors (1990) 52 Cal. 3d 553, 564. To achieve this purpose, CEQA mandates preparation of an Environmental Impact Report ("EIR") for projects so that the foreseeable impacts of pursuing the project can be understood and weighed. Communities for a Better Environment P. Ricbmond (2010) 184 Cal. App. 4th 70, 80. The EIR requirement "is the heart of CEQA." CEQA Guidelines, § 15003(a). The preparation and circulation of an EIR is more than a set of technical hurdles for agencies and developers to overcome. The EIR's function is to ensure that government officials who decide to build or approve a project do so with a full understanding of the environmental consequences and, equally important, that the public is assured those consequences have been considered. For the EIR to serve these goals it must present information so that the foreseeable impacts of pursuing the project can be understood and weighed, and the public must be given an adequate opportunity to comment on that presentation before the decision to go forward is made. Communities for a Better Environment v. Ricbmond (2010) 184 Cal. App. 4th 70, 80 (quoting Vineyard Area Citi.Zens for Re ponsible Growth, Inc. P. City of Rancho Cordova (2007) 40 Cal. 4th 412, 449-450). Here, the City contends that no subsequent EIR is necessary pursuant to the CEQA Guidelines because the Project is within the scope of Metro East Mixed -Use Overlay Zone EIR ("Metro EIR") and that there are no substantial changes with respect to the circumstances or new necessary mitigation measures. Specifically, the meeting Agenda states: the project is within the scope of a project covered by a previously certified Environmental Impact Report (EIR) (Metro East Mixed- Use Overlay Zone and SCH NO. 2006031041). The previously prepared EIR adequately described the project's environmental setting, significant impacts and alternatives, and mitigation measures related to each impact. There are no substantial changes with respect to circumstances under which the project is undertaken that will require major revisions to the EIR. There is no new information of substantial erroneous." Center for Biological Diversity P. Department of Fisb dam' Wlildlife (2015) 62 Cal. 4th 204, 217. City Council 18 — 25 10/3/2023