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CEQA Document Peer Review of Moulton Niguel Water District Operations Center and Site Consolidation Project City of Laguna Hills Chad led the peer review and provided advisory services to the City of Laguna Hills for a proposal by the Moulton Niguel Water District (MNWD) to consolidate administrative and operational functions located at two different sites. The project included development of new office buildings, a shop building, a fleet services building, and other improvements to the site in an area surrounded by residential uses. The City was a responsible agency under CEQA and needed to make findings on the document in order to process entitlement applications. The project team was brought in to ensure the document sufficiently addressed the City's issues, mitigated impacts caused by the project, and addressed the concerns of a vocal and involved community that surrounds the project. Chad worked closely with City staff and its outside legal counsel to focus the reviews on technical accuracy, methodologies, and defensibility. PROJECT UNDERSTANDING The City is processing an application for the partial demolition of a mini -warehouse storage facility and construction of new commercial storage space on an approximately 3.5-acre site located at 1030 E. Fourth Street. The proposed project would be consistent with the General Plan and Zoning, but would require a lot merger and conditional use permit (CUP). As part of the City's entitlement process, the City must complete environmental review of the potential impacts associated with the project, pursuant to CEQA, prior to exercising discretion over whether to approve the application. The CEQA Guidelines include several provisions for streamlining the environmental review process for certain qualifying projects; notably CEQA Guidelines Section 15332, provides for a Categorical Exemption (Class 32) for infill projects that can achieve certain specified standards. The applicant has engaged LSA to complete the environmental documentation, including the following related technical analyses: A Trip Generation and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Memorandum A Noise Assessment A Air Quality Technical Memorandum A Geotechnical Site Evaluation A Preliminary WQMP e Phase I Environmental Site Assessment As the lead agency under CEQA, the City must be able to stand behind the CEQA documentation and the technical studies and make independent findings in concurrence with the results. The documentation must be technically sound, follow appropriate methodologies, and adequately substantiate their conclusions with facts and evidence. The City seeks a dedicated environmental consultant with a proven project management team and expert technical specialists to assist in peer reviewing the CEQA documentation and technical studies to ensure the CEQA documentation is complete, accurate, and defensible to withstand potential legal scrutiny. CITY OF SANTA ANA U CEQA CLASS 32 EXEMPTION PEER REVIEW FOR THE EXTRA SPACE STORAGE AT FOURTH STREET