City of
LEMOORE
CALIFORNIA
06/19/2023
City Council Special Meeting
Handouts received after
agenda posted
City of Lemoore
VMT Thresholds and Implementation Guidelines
City Council Meeting – June 19, 2023
1 Took effect statewide on July 1, 2020
Replaced Level of Service (LOS) with Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) as basis for determining transportation impacts under California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Overview of SB 743 and VMT
CEQA
2 Serves the State’s greenhouse gas (GHG)
emission reduction goals
Encourages denser infill development and
discourages greenfield development
Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) : Total distance traveled by all vehicles.
VMT = ( daily traffic ) x ( trip length)
Key Concepts –
CEQA VMT Analysis
Definition of “Region”
Project Screening Criteria
VMT Screening Tool
VMT Thresholds
Project VMT Analysis
VMT Mitigation Measures
3 Project Screening
VMT Analysis
Methodology
Mitigation Measures
Definition of “Region”
Region refers to the geography within which
most of project trips would be contained
Using Kings County as the region for VMT
analysis is recommended because :
Extensive: • Includes majority (95%) of trips originating from or ending in the City of Lemoore are contained within Kings County.
Relevant
• Most large or urbanized areas around the State of
California identify County boundary as the region for
VMT analysis
4 Project VMT profile will be evaluated against
thresholds based on regional VMT profile
VMT Screening Criteria : Land Development Projects
5 Projects within High-Quality Transit Area / High-Quality Transit Corridor Local Serving Retail (<50,000 s.f.)
100% affordable housing units
Consistent with City’s General Plan and generating less than 1,000 daily trips; fewer than 500 daily trips otherwise
Institutional/government and public service
Consistent with City’s General Plan and located in low VMT areas Detailed screening criteria are provided in the City of Lemoore VMT Thresholds and Implementation Guidelines (City VMT Guidelines)
Projects meeting certain criteria can be assumed to have no or less than significant impact
VMT Screening Tool
Online Screening Tool
Determine whether a
project could be screened
out by location
Input : Project Type ;
Location
Output : VMT profile of
the project location
Address and APN
Search Bar
Toolbars
City of Lemoore VMT Screening Tool: https://gis1.lsa.net/LVMT/ VMT Screening Criteria: Transportation Projects
8 Transit and Active Transportation Projects
Non-Capacity Increasing Projects
……a detailed list of transportation projects which can be screened is provided in the City VMT Guidelines
Detailed screening criteria are provided in the City of Lemoore VMT Thresholds and Implementation Guidelines (City VMT Guidelines)
• New transit service
• Bicycle/Pedestrian Infrastructure
• Rehabilitation/Maintenance/Safety/Repair
• Traffic monitoring and control systems
• Alternative fuel charging infrastructure
• Park and Ride facilities
VMT Thresholds/Metrics for City of Lemoore
9 VMT threshold of 13% below existing regional
average (or 87% of existing regional average)
has been recommended for City of Lemoore
Project Type VMT Metric
Residential VMT/capita
Office VMT/employee
Retail Total VMT
Mixed-Use, Land Use Plan (General
Plan/Specific Plan)
Respective VMT metrics
for its different land use
components
Hotel, Hospital, Medical Office
Building, or any similar use with
approval from the City
VMT/service population
Other Land Uses VMT/employee
Transportation VMT attributable to
project
10 VMT Analysis Methodology using KCAG Model :
Overview
Project
Information
KCAG
Model
VMT
Calculation
The KCAG Model uses various socioeconomic variables related to the project as an input and gives the VMT information as output, which is then used to determine significance of project VMT impacts. 11 VMT Mitigation Measures
If a significant VMT impact is found :
Applicant and City discuss possible mitigation
measure, which should be :
• Vanpools
• Ridesharing
• Transit Passes
• Traffic Calming measures
• Promotion of non-motorized uses..
Contextspecific Effective Feasible
Recommendations:
Use of local data if
available
Monitoring of
implemented measures
An extensive list of strategies that may be applicable to Lemoore is included in the City VMT Guidelines
Challenges:
Measuring effectiveness Applicability/Feasibility
Questions ?
12 THANK YOU !
13 VMT per Capita Screening Map for City of Lemoore
VMT/Capita threshold 13%
VMT per Employee Screening Map for City of Lemoore
VMT/Employee threshold 13%
VMT per Service Population Screening Map for City of Lemoore VMT/Service Population threshold 13%
VMT Thresholds for City of Lemoore
18 VMT threshold of 13% below existing regional
average (or 87% of existing regional average) has
been recommended for City of Lemoore
based on CARB target of 13% reduction in Kings
CAG GHG emissions by 2035
(Project VMT) > (VMT threshold) Significant impact ; mitigations required (Project VMT) < (VMT threshold) Not a significant impact ; analysis complete Use of KCAG Model is recommended for project VMT estimation.
Recommended VMT Metrics and Thresholds
19 Project Type VMT Metric** VMT Threshold
Residential VMT/capita 87% of existing VMT/capita
Office VMT/employee 87% of existing VMT/employee
Retail Total VMT No net increase in total VMT
Mixed-Use, Land Use Plan (General
Plan/Specific Plan)
Respective VMT metrics for its
different land use components
Mixed-use: respective thresholds for the various land use components; Land Use Plans: the existing Kings County average baseline VMT per capita, VMT per employee, and VMT per service population will be used.
Hotel, Hospital, Medical Office Building, or
any similar use with approval from the City VMT/service population 87% of existing regional VMT/service population Other Land Uses VMT/employee 87% of existing regional VMT/emp Transportation VMT attributable to project VMT attributable to project > 0 **For the City of Lemoore, the VMT metric will be used for CEQA purposes, but the LOS metric will still be used to determine necessary roadway infrastructure and traffic operations improvements.
20 VMT Mitigation : Regional Opportunities
VMT mitigations are relevant in
the context of the “Region”
Regional solutions may be required
(not feasible at project-level)
Examples :
• Completion of transit system
• Purchase of more transit buses
• Gap closure of bicycle master plan
VMT Mitigation Banks/Fees/Exchanges
Projects contribute fees towards
programs aimed to reduce regional VMT
Effectively reduce regional VMT, GHG
towards State’s climate goals
21 VMT Analysis Methodology for
Non-Screened Residential Projects
22 VMT Analysis Methodology for
Non-Screened Non-Residential
(Non-Retail) Projects
23 VMT Analysis Methodology for
Non-Screened Non-Residential
(Retail) Projects