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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Bill 1.A-Late04 04/25/2011From- mgfeshionart @co,mcast.net Sent: Monday, April X25, 2011 1:04 PM To: Hines, Heather Cc: Brown, John; daueglass @Comcast.net; - City Clerk; CityCouncil. Subject: Comments "on The Deer Creek,DEIR Attachments: Comments on the Deer Creek Village DEIR.doc Hi Heather, I am sending my comments and that of Kevin Bodwell's via attachment of a word document. There should be 2 pictures of one of the birds that is missing in the DEIR. I hope it comes out. Thank you. Mary Glardon 707- 782 - 11.88 i From: Mary Glardon ( mgfashionart(&wmcast.net ) & Kevin Bodwell To: hhmes@ci.petalumaxa.us Date:' Apri . 204 Subject: Comments on the Deer Creek Village DEIR Dear Heather, These are comments, addressed to the lead Agency, The City, on the Deer Creek DEIR. The comments' are on the adequacy of the DEIR, in describing the full potential, impacts of this development proposal, and if it provides enough reasonable and feasibl'e,mitigation measures, or project alternatives,` before the recommendation of a decision, of the Planning Commission and City Council. In our opinion, and that of several other citizens this DCV DEIR is incomplete and insufficient in accomplishing the goal of an EIR., Our understanding is an EIR. is designed to be a thorough instrument of use, in the most intelligent decision making,'processes! of our City. Its use is to bring forth the most sustainable, successful, the:highest possible, in projects, on behalf of the City of Petalurna and its Residents: The following are the comments, concerns, questions, and findings of omissions of thorough study, we have observed. We request the comments to be a matter of Public Record, and we request thoughtful consideration and responses to our comments. First and foremost, the proposed,project and all of the,alternatives identified in the DEIR, with the exception of alternate #1 No project,, continue to have " Significant and Unavoidable Impacts" with no feasible mitigations in regards to, -Air Quality & Greenhouse Gas-Emissions at: Grading/Construction Impact & Operation Periods. - Noise -3 Cumulative Exposure of Persons to Excessive Noise Levels. At 70dB in neighborhood. - Traffic: Notably, approval.of this project proposal, or its;current alternatives would be Political Suicide, for any City Politician who ran their campaigns on, or spoke to "Traffic Relief." This is due to the DEIR findings of the proposed development's 10,155. daily new auto trips, creating the following overwhelming "Significant and'Unavoidable "'Traffic Impacts: Existing Plus Project Intersection Operation Impacts,at - East Washington/N. McDowell Blvd'. Existing Plus Proiect Vehicle OueuingImpacts at - East Washington./N. McDowell'Blvd Southbound Rt. Turn Lane. Existing Plus Pipeline Pius(Proiect Intersection Operation Impacts at: - Corona Road/N. McDowell Blvd / Petaluma Blvd'.; North. -East Washington. /N. McDowell Blvd.' Existing:Plu"s PipelinePlus'.Proiect vehicle Queuing Impacts To exceed available turn storage pockets at: - East Wash. St./N: McDowell Blvd.- Southbound Rt. Turn Lane. Existing Plus Pipeline''Plus Proiect Freeway Operation.Imbaacts at: - P.M. peak N,orthbound Highway 101 levelslof�severe congestion. Level F. " Southbound " 11 11 11 C Level E/F Also adding by more than 1% of the.Level F at; Railroad Ave: = Pepper Road to Old Redwood Hwy. -East Washington St. to Lakeville Hwy, Cumulative Plus ProiectIntersection Operation Impacts at` Rainer Ave./N.-McDowell Blvd. - Rainer. Ave:/Project.Access - Corona Road/N McDowell;; Blvd. Cumulative East Wash./N'.McDowell Blvd., Southbound Rt Lane V& Oueuing Impacts Cumulative Freeway Operation Impacts at: - North bound U 101 for each of the study segments at Level F This Big Box anchor`project, as proposed, and its identified alternatives is too,large forthis unique site, with Significant and Unavoidable impacts for the hospital, adjacent neighborhoods, surrounding community, and Petaluma as,a whole. We requestthat'the City and the DEIR bring forward more project alternatives that would take these impacts to "less than significant levels. Finding none, this project should not be approved on behalf of the citizens -who reside in Petaluma. Will the City, or Council make recommendations of more alternatives, or find feasible mitigations to be placed in the DE1R that will, achieve the goal of less than significant? If so what are the alternatives? Urban Decay The Retail leakage study i s so outdated, with buying habits changing. The big boxes of Circuit City and Borders were .set to come into Petaluma. They have now shuttered their doors. We pass the empty'Mervyn's daily:_ Yardbirds and Home'Depo failed to survive in Petaluma. Why would we believe Lowe's, OSH,.,Rex's and our. other hardware and paint stores will co -exist and all survive? Retail cannibalization will occur. Lowe's pulled out of this developers' project at Grant.Line Road in Sacramento. What conditions will be placed on this project, in an effort to safeguard the�city financially, to repurpose,:such a large failed building as a Lowe's? Will a condition of fees for potential tear- downand smaller rebuilds be put in place? Especially in consideration that it is adjacentto a•neighborhood and public safety is an issue? Missing from the DEIR that should be included are: Flooding potential This is not addressed. Historically, -this site:.has is considered flood plain. Noise Miti ag tion Noise impacts were: not adequately addressed. General Plan Goal 10 -G -2: Noise: 10 -P -6 states, "Continue efforts to.'incorporate.noise considerations into land use planning decisions,...to minimize the effects of noise on, 'adjacent -land uses." Please consider the following: The unique hours of operation of °a Lowe's are 6 :00 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m. daily: The deliveries come in after hours during th, e night shift This leads to excessive night trucking noise; and light glare into our neighborhood. This is why Lowe's are generally built in business districts and not in residential areas. This is significant and not; addressed in this DEIR. Will the City address the developer's inappropriate choice of this particular Big Box anchor, with its operational mode, being adjacent to a neighborhood arid' our hospital? Will the City recommend the hours reflect what is acceptable in a residential and.hosp'ital area? Sound Mitigation - W the City be willing to suggest mitigations to the developer, of lush vegetation. between the project and Hwy 101, between the project and McDowell Blvd., and between McDowell Blvd. and the back of our neighborhood? Would the city be willing to ask developer to mitigate the noise, and glare toward the upper floors, of our second story homes by the plantingi of'a wall of large, tall trees such as redwoods between McDowell Blvd. and the outside of the back of our neighborhood? Would, this be a condition to the project.and will it be in the first phase, at ground break, to help :mitigate the construction ° noise? Will funding be requested to maintain, such trees? Redwoods thrive here, whereas, many of our original trees have drowned in our neighborhood from too -much water on site. We will lose our beautiful views. Our compromise. Public Safety & Security This has not been adequately addressed in the; DEIR, in regards to increased crime to the. clioiwof a,B g Box Home Improvement Center anchor. Home Improvement BB :C'enters bring; crime in, and is not wise to be placed adjacent to a neighborhood. Unlike 'Lumberyards auch;as Freid`man's, which,have gated areas for. the Contractors, Home Improvement'Centers are open parking lots and are -known to bring forth crimes of opportunity. Contractors and Tradesmen's vehicles are loaded with tools of their trade, and livelihood as they cannot always .fully empty or lock down everything in their truck beds. It is neither cost effective time wise, nor physically wise to repeatedly lift the hefty weight of these professional pieces of equipment. Thieves know this. How will. the City address this public safety and security issue? Will the city require security monitors like those at: the Lowe's in Cotati,.and at the Home Depo in San Rafael? Will the city request funds from the developer to pay for the extra police required, or private security patrols.? The Home Depo in San Rafael has a special working relationship with the police. Will the City foster this? Do'we,have the funds? The police.do not come out unless a suspect is in custody. How will we feel safe and secure in our neighborhood with this choice of store being`placed here - Multiple Senior Housing locations are within close,proximity of this site. The seniors and disabled use the sidewalk along,McDowell to take walks: ,How will the city,protect their health and safety due to their slower walking gait, wheel chair rolling etc. along this higher intensity site and in crosswalks? Wildlife Wildlife Study issued 2003,, is outdated and many species of the variety of aquatic, riparian and upland'habitat species are missing from.the DEIR. As a matter of brevity we will state only the most obvious. Birds of prey such as Hawks, Falcons, and. Kites, Egrets, and Ducks, have been overlooked.. Please see.2 pictures I:have provided, of one of the 3 types of birds of prey that have been overlooked on'the site, Another bird has �a rating of NE. We request the wildlife study be brought up to date. Will the City require this inadequate Wildlife Study be:updated and be considered as part of an amended DCV DEIR? Knot, why not? "We strongly encouragez the City to evaluate the feasibility.of designating this area as open space or to utilize this high value!habitat area as a wetlands mitigation bank for future wetland and riparian corridor development. ".;(2004, suggestion of Bruce Wolfe, Executive Officer of the Calif. Regional Water Quality Control Board.) Will the city consider the whole or parts of this wetlands area to serve as a mitigation bank for future impacts to wetlands and riparian corridors? Traffic - The DEIR traffic impact analysis is incomplete and therefore, inadequate. We request an updated Traffic Plan be done, and its results to be included in this DCV DEIR. Will the City request this be done, and use its _results iii their decision making process? We request it for the following reasons: - The GP and the DEIR assumes a Rainier, Interchange which has not received a, design approval from Cal Trans, has not identified the funding for the required $140 Million, and there is no build schedule for this assumed infrastructure project.. The Rainier Crosstown Connector is also not funded, or scheduled. Will the Crosstown Connector infrastructure be built simultaneously with this project? Will the developer pay fees in advance for this crosstown infrastructure that will serve their project? How much will -they pay, and will that sustain the maintenance impacts? - S urface neighborhood streets that will have increased traffic, due to the human nature of the desire to escape gridlock,.have not been studied, although mentionedprior by °a.citizen in her comments on the NOP. The neighborhood streets we request you study are: Rushmore Ave. Which, is: parallel to McDowell Blvd. and connects Rainier Ave. to Professional Drive. East Madison, and East Washington which,individually connect McDowell Blvd. to Maria Drive. We request these be included in the DEIR. Will the City request the DEIR to include them? Cal Trans - Has the City informed Cal Trans aboutthe level F traffic freeway impacts of this project? Does: this project require their approval/cooperation to grant an encroachment or ROW permit? The last correspondence from the Department of Transportation stated "traffic mitigations should be ''identified where the project would have significant impact. Mitigation measures should be fully discussed, including financing, scheduling, implementation responsibilities, and.lead agency monitoring." However, the DEIR states there are No mitigations. How will the city proceed in this situation? Emergency Access Impacts -The vicinity of this proposal site, and the needs of citizens to reach the Petaluma Valley Hospital in an emergency, have not been.fully analyzed. This is a Heliport Hosp. for critical emergency patients. While ambulances may have sirens, cars that are in gridlock have no where to pull over on the freeway bridge; or on McDowell Blvd. northbound, where cars park along the front of their homes. Families needing, to follow the ambulance, in an effort to be present for critical life or death, or other time critical' decisions to be made, do not have sirens or flashing lights. If stuck in gridlock, crit ical, time may pass while care is on hold awaiting family decisions. The results of this can, `and do, last a >lifetime for families. Will the DEIR address this public safety /emergency impact? General plan compliance.issues not addressed in DEIR Zoning - This :site was zoned Mixed Use downgraded from thedevelopers request of Regional Commercial, yet this is not mixed use but rather is Regional Commercial. DSL, the original developer, in 2004, in an effort to feather toward existing, had, %..Residential which fit the mixed use zoning. T_ his newer, current proposal, is no longer in compliance with the General Plan Goal 3 -G -14, Policies and Programs: 3 -P -75, which states, "'Allow fora range of uses, including commercial, office and residential, in the *mixed —use area on the�southwest corner of North McDowell and Rainier Ave." Will the City request thedevelope'rrfollow the intent of the General Plan's zoning? - Goal 5 -G -7: Neighborhood Traffic Management 5 -P -45, which states, "Efforts to preserve the peace and quiet in residential areas should be continued ". Compliance with A & B is not addressed. Will the city request compliance of these GP goals? GP Guidelines - By design, this project is too Autocentric to fit the General Plan. How will the city approach this issue with the developer? Architecture -The. Architecture does not fit the character of the surrounding neighborhoods or office buildings of which the architecture is more- Spanish, with pastel colors, and tiled roofs. This is out of compliance with the General Plan. Will the cityrequire the. Developers to change their Midwest Lowe' s building theme and drab color tones to fit the surrounding character and therefore be in compliance with the GP? Wine Country European design and,pastels could also be a harmonious,.blend. Will. the city require they feather in this project as the General Plan states, rather than setting their. own tone? We don't want to look.like a patchwork quilt over here. That is whywe,have a General Plan. Will the City 'follow its GP Guidelines and its infill requirements? What I'like about the project is the °possible tenant of a 24 hour Fitness Center, provided it has a warm temperature that meets`the Arthritis Foundation's criterion of warm water therapy. This woul&replace the loss of the Foundations prior water sessions at°the now closed Boys and Girls pool. ^This would be_of.great value and`benefit to our aging community. For consideration° please:. We have asked,fova Town Center, on the Eastside, at this site.'Wehave asked for something, such as the beautiful Theatre District on the West side which `is. an,upscale, architecturally beautiful development we are citywide proud of "Thehottest new retail venue is the "lifestyle center," which is an open -air mall that mimics small -town Main Street. These quaint spaces are r designed to get you to open your wallet The averam visitor blows $80 an hour at a lifestyle center vs. $56 at a- regular mall according;to the International Council of'.Shopping,Centers." — Mone a azure Nov. `2006. Will the� y g y ask for this type of superior, more revenue capturing cit for our coffers, upscale project, as opposed to the:outdated, less beneficial, mediocre strip center that is being; offered to us by these developers? If MGP does not have the Architectural, or Economic team, or desire, to accomplish a, quality product perhaps they can partner with someone who can, deliver it to us. This development proposal, as it now presented, will deliver plenty of traffic gridlock for us, with far less benefits °than we should have expectations for. We ask that the city not lower their expectations, and sell its citizens short by accepting this inferior product. It is all about the negotiations and the self worth of the: negotiators. Do the city leaders have what it takes to see we are delivered,:a worthy product ?'What - are - our leaders made of? Who will rise to the occasion? The' city'may have financial problems, but we are not beggars, so let's move out of the prevalent, quick fix beggar mentality, and that which we can be truly proud of, and that which. will serve a sustainable Petaluma best, in,all regards. Thank you for your time and.kind consideration, 'lease gotice bre' akfast from McDowell field under Ridht,foot. Photos by Frank Simpson Mary Glardon and Kevin Bodwell Residents of Park Place Subdivision Photo 2 Post Breakfast and wAtcliftig - field again.