2014-028 - Approving General Plan Amendement No. 2014-01

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City of Santa Ana -Park View at Town and Country Manor Draft EIR Alternatives to the Features associated with the proposed project cited to minimize greenhouse gas emissions by reducing vehicle miles traveled are: 1) the project is smart land use; 2) the project is high- density residential located within a half -mile of retail uses; and 3) the project is located near transit. A higher- density project correlates somewhat better to the principles of smart growth and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions than a medium - density project, but a medium density project is still preferred to low density from the standpoint of smart growth. Should a light rail system be established at some point in this section of Orange County and along Main Street, a higher density development on the project site would contribute more riders for public transit, and further strengthen the activity center aspect of the District Center land use area along Main Street that, among other purposes, public transit strives to connect. Impacts to climate change under Alternative 2 (No Project/Development in Accordance with Existing Zoning and General Plan Designations) are considered to be less than under the proposed project because of the smaller increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change impacts of the proposed project are already considered less than significant after mitigation, however. 5.6.2 - Conclusions and Relationship to Project Objectives Alternative 2 (No Project/Development in Accordance with Existing Zoning and General Plan Designations) would reduce the already less than significant impacts of the proposed project, and would meet four of the seven project objectives (see Table 5 -1 and Table 5 -2). The three objectives that would not be met relate to maximizing the utilization of the project site, and establishing development that combines with Main Place and City Place to form a master planned mixed use area within and adjacent to the City's North Main development corridor and District Center land use area along Main Street. 5.7 - Environmentally Superior Alternative The environmental impacts for each alternative in relation to the proposed project are summarized in Table 5 -1. Table 5 -2 compares project alternatives to project objectives. CEQA Guidelines § 15126(e)(2) requires an FIR to identify an "environmentally superior alternative." An alternative that is environmentally superior would result in the fewest or least environmental impacts and would achieve the project objectives of the project planning effort. If the No Project Alternative is the environmentally superior alternative, the FIR must also identify an environmentally superior alternative from among the other alternatives. Impacts for all issue areas analyzed in the Draft FIR for Park View at Town and Country Manor, both at the project and cumulative levels, can be mitigated and are considered less than significant. The initial areas of concern associated with the proposed project, aesthetics - shade /shadow, air quality - construction, and traffic, were determined through the EIR analysis to be either less than significant before mitigation, or able to be mitigated to a less than significant level. With adherence to regulatory requirements and project mitigation measures, no substantial adverse impacts would Michael Brandman Associates 5-9 H\Cl t(PN -Rn) 327b32]003MMVB2]0030 Sec05 Altematrv.s