75A - PH - EIR AND AMEND GENERAL PLAN 555 E MEMORY LN

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EIR No. 2010 -01, AA No. 2014 -01, GPA No. 2014 -01 April 14, 2014 Page 4 Project Analysis Town and Country Manor is proposing to expand upon the services the facility provides by constructing the Park View tower, an eight -story building that will provide independent living housing on its campus. This building will allow Town and Country the ability to provide an additional independent, active living component of senior living, giving residents the ability to age In place on the campus. Town and Country is proposing a project that is consistent with the development pattern In the area, which includes several tall buildings in the immediate area. The following subsections of this staff report provided analyses for each of the recommended action items. Environmental Impact Report The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires the preparation and approval of an environmental impact report (EIR) for this project. The environmental issues analyzed in the EIR include aesthetics, air quality, climate change (greenhouse gas emissions), hydrology and water quality, land use and planning, noise, transportation and traffic, and utilities and service systems. Preparation of the EIR was originally initiated about five years ago for a 12 -story tower on the Town and Country campus. As a result of the economic downturn, the project was placed on a temporary hold due to concerns with the ability to finance the project. During this time, the project was reduced in height to its current proposal of eight stories. Although there are no State mandates that identify how long a draft EIR is valid, staff directed the consultant to revise and update the document when the applicant elected to move forward with the development in 2012. The consultant reviewed all sections of the document, with only the Traffic Section being updated to reflect changes in traffic patterns that occurred after the original document was prepared. The update found that no significant changes had occurred in traffic, with no new mitigation measures added or modified for the project. In accordance with CEQA, a draft EIR was first circulated for review and comment to public, local, regional and state agencies, and interested parties on March 11, 2010 for a 45 -day review period. On April 10, 2010 a public hearing was held on the document to obtain input from interested members of the public. By the close of the 45 -day review period, a total 12 written comment letters on the document were received. The City has evaluated the comments received from persons or agencies that reviewed the EIR. In accordance with CEQA, each public agency and interested party that commented on the draft EIR was provided with a response to its comments at least 10 days prior to the Planning Commission public hearing. The Responses to Comments document, the Mitigation Monitoring Program and the Draft EIR constitute the Final EIR. In addition, the Findings of Fact for the project have been prepared. 75A -6