CITY OF PACIFICA
COUNCIL AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT
2/14/2022
1 SUBJECT:
Extension of Public Comment Period on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the General Plan Update and Sharp Park Specific Plan.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Extend the public comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the General Plan Update and Sharp Park Specific Plan by 15 days beyond the current 45 day comment period.
STAFF CONTACT:
Kevin Woodhouse, City Manager
(650) 738-7409
[email protected]
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the General Plan Update (GPU) and Sharp Park Specific Plan (SPSP) was released on January 7, 2022, along with the GPU and SPSP draft documents. At the request of some community members, the release date was delayed from mid-December to the first week of January to not have part of the 45-day review period fall over the end-of-year holiday period, in consideration of the public’s holiday priorities. This release marks the final phase of years of work and public engagement on these critical planning documents for Pacifica. The Frequently Asked Questions document released at the same time as the GPU and SPSP documents, available at www.planpacifica.org <http://www.planpacifica.org>, describes the extensive public engagement undertaken over many years to get to this final phase.
City staff and City Councilmembers have heard from a small number of community members who have experienced challenges working with the DEIR document and who have indicated these challenges have affected their ability to efficiently review the documents. City staff and the City Council have communicated the importance of receiving public comments on the DEIR, GPU and SPSP, so that the Planning Commission and City Council’s final review of the documents are complete with public comments in the record, along with revisions to the final draft documents as recommended by staff based on review of the public comments. Therefore, in support of the goal to have robust public involvement and comment on the documents, the City Manager recommends for the Council’s consideration a 15-day extension to the public comment period on the DEIR, revising the original 45-day deadline of February 21, 5:00 p.m., to March 8, 2022, 5:00 p.m. As previously communicated, this deadline only applies to comments on the DEIR, as written comments on the GPU and SPSP can be submitted for inclusion in the record anytime up to noon on the days of the Planning Commission and City Council hearings which are anticipated in May/June, 2022.
This 15-day extension strikes a reasonable balance between the public’s desire to have more time to provide comments and the City’s need to complete the Plan Pacifica project in a timely Pacifica City Council 2
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manner. As discussed in more detail below, there are a number of factors applicable to considering a 15-day extension, including the need to make progress on all Council priorities for this fiscal year, the impending commencement of the Housing Element project, and maintaining compliance with CEQA requirements relating to public comment on the DEIR.
Extending the public comment period by 15 days will complement other efforts City staff has made to increase the accessibility of the DEIR, GPU, and SPSP, including making the documents available in Word format to increase searchability and copy-and-paste functionality.
A 60-day review period also exceeds the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, which identifies a 45-day comment period on a DEIR as an adequate period of time.
The extension recommended by the City Manager also should be considered in the context of other important City Council priorities. A 15-day extension would still allow Planning Commission and City Council consideration of the documents before the end of June, 2022, which in turn will allow other critical City Council priorities to proceed as planned for Fiscal Year 2021-22 and into FY 2022-23. Work on the GPU and SPSP have been City Council Priorities each year since the effort was reengaged in 2018/2019. The City Council’s Priorities for FY 2021-22, which were adopted on April 12, 2021, clearly state the Council’s direction to complete the GPU and SPSP this fiscal year:
• Complete a Comprehensive General Plan Update
• Complete a Sharp Park Specific Plan
Moreover, the workplans developed for these major efforts, which were developed and published on the City’s website in September 2021, provide the anticipated milestones to complete this work, which state:
The General Plan and EIR are scheduled to be released for public review by December 2021. After a 45-day public review period and preparation of responses to comments, the Planning Commission and City Council will hold hearings in early 2022 to recommend and adopt the documents, respectively.
As Councilmembers are aware, development of annual workplans for City Council’s priorities is an essential management tool to plan and balance limited staff resources to complete the Council’s robust list of priorities for the fiscal year. As a result, when there are impacts to the workplan, it is imperative the City Manager keeps the City Council informed. The Plan Pacifica timeline has already been slightly delayed from the workplan timeline to accommodate community requests, causing modest delays in other priorities. An additional 15-day delay will cause additional delays for several priority projects such as the Housing Element, Climate Action Plan update, Quarry Site Specific Plan, and the Wireless Communication Ordinance update. Some of these projects likely will need to receive timeline adjustments, which will be discussed in the context of Council goal-setting in March.
Several steps must still occur after completion of the recommended 15-day extension of the DEIR public comment period, as summarized below:
• Prepare responses to comments on the DEIR;
• Review comments on the GPU and SPSP and update documents, as appropriate; • Release Responses to Comments, Final EIR, and Final Draft GPU/SPSP at least two weeks before the first Planning Commission hearing;
• Hold Planning Commission hearing(s) to make a recommendation on the documents; • Hold City Council hearing (s) to approve documents and certify the EIR.
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February 14, 2022
City staff does not know at this time the extent of substantive comments that may be received from the public or commenting agencies, and therefore cannot predict the exact amount of staff and consultant time necessary to prepare the responses to comments on the DEIR and revise the final draft GPU and SPSP for the Planning Commission and City Council hearings.
However, in accordance with the City Council Priorities, staff intends to schedule final adoption hearings before the end of FY 2021-22.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION:
The City Council could choose to not extend the public comment period on the DEIR, or could choose an extension shorter or longer than the recommended 15-day extension. An extension longer than 15 days would have significant impacts on other major Council Priorities.
RELATION TO CITY COUNCIL GOALS AND WORK PLAN:
Extension of the public comment period on the DEIR relates to the City Council’s goal of “An Engaged Community.”
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact related to a 15-day extension of the public comment period on the DEIR.
ORIGINATED BY:
City Manager's Office
ATTACHMENT LIST: