55A - RESOLUTION CERTIFYING EIR SAN LORENZO SEWER LIFT STATION

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Resolution Certifying EIR for San Lorenzo Sewer Lift Station and Approval of Sewer Lift Station Project January 17, 2012 Page 2 In December 2008, the City prepared a CEQA Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the proposed project. The MND was approved by the City Council on February 2, 2009. Subsequently, the MND was challenged in California Superior Court by an adjacent property owner: Santa Ana California Lodge, LLC. As a result, the court instructed the City to vacate its approval of the MND and prepare a project EIR. The Draft EIR was developed and circulated for public review and comment from July 14, 2010 through September 10, 2010 (58 days). Based on a review of comments provided on this Draft EIR and a prior version of the Final EIR, which was never certified, the City opted to expand the EIR's analysis of alternative locations for the proposed project and incorporate other minor revisions into the Draft EIR. The City also decided to recirculate the Draft EIR. Accordingly, in compliance with CEQA Guidelines, the City prepared a recirculated Draft EIR (RDEIR), which was made available for public review for a 47- day period from September 14 through October 31, 2011. The City has prepared a Final EIR which includes all comments and recommendations received on the RDEIR, and written responses to those comments. Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the resolution certifying the Final Environmental Impact Report for the San Lorenzo Sewer Lift Station, and approve the project as described in the Final EIR. In order to construct the new lift station as described in the Final EIR, the City will need to acquire approximately 292 square feet of unused land owned by the Santa Ana California Lodge, LLC. In addition, a temporary construction easement of 465 square feet would also be required. Attached as Exhibit 3 is the executive summary of the EIR, which explains the revisions made between the originally circulated Draft EIR and the RDEIR. Copies of the Final EIR are available for public review at the City Clerk's office and at the Public Works counter on the first floor of the Ross Annex. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT The Final Environmental Impact Report has been prepared in accordance with CEQA. Virtually all of the significant environmental impacts associated with this project are temporary impacts that occur due to construction activities and can be mitigated to below the level of significance. The one significant long -term impact identified was the possibility of odors emanating from the lift station and impacting sensitive receptors. However, this potential impact is reduced to "less than significant" by incorporating an odor - control system into the lift station design. The EIR identified only one significant impact that could not be mitigated below the level of significance: traffic disruption due to lane closures on Segerstrom Avenue and Bristol Street. This impact is a near -term impact and would occur only during five weeks of the construction schedule. 55A -2