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CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
3750 UNIVERSITY AVE., STE. 250
RIVERSIDE, CA 92501
(951) 826-5567
RESOLUTION NO. A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA AMENDING RESOLUTION NO. 23589 TO REVISE THE “VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED” THRESHOLDS OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR PURPOSES OF ANALYZING TRANSPORTATION IMPACTS UNDER THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT. WHEREAS, the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines (“CEQA Guidelines”) encourage public agencies to develop and publish generally applicable “thresholds of significance” to be used in determining the significance of a project’s environmental effects; and WHEREAS, CEQA Guidelines section 15064.7(a) defines a threshold of significance as “an identifiable quantitative, qualitative or performance level of a particular environmental effect, noncompliance with which means the effect will normally be determined to be significant by the agency and compliance with which means the effect normally will be determined to be less than significant”; and
WHEREAS, CEQA Guidelines section 15064.7(b) requires that thresholds of significance must be adopted by ordinance, resolution, rule, or regulations, developed through a public review process, and be supported by substantial evidence; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15064.7(c), when adopting thresholds of significance, a public agency may consider thresholds of significance adopted or recommended by other public agencies provided that the decision of the agency is supported by substantial evidence; and
WHEREAS, Senate Bill 743, enacted in 2013 and codified in Public Resources Code section 21099, required changes to the CEQA Guidelines regarding the criteria for determining the significance of transportation impacts of projects; and WHEREAS, in 2018, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (“OPR”) proposed, and the California Natural Resources Agency certified and adopted, new CEQA Guidelines section 15064.3 that identifies vehicle miles traveled (“VMT”) – meaning the amount and distance of automobile travel attributable to a project – as the most appropriate metric to evaluate a project’s transportation impacts; and
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28 CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
3750 UNIVERSITY AVE., STE. 250
RIVERSIDE, CA 92501
(951) 826-5567
WHEREAS, as a result, automobile delay, as measured by “level of service” and other similar metrics, generally no longer constitutes a significant environmental effect under CEQA; and WHEREAS, on June 16, 2020, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 23589 which adopted VMT thresholds of significance for purposes of analyzing transportation impacts under the CEQA; and
WHEREAS, CEQA Guidelines section 15064.3 went into effect on July 1, 2020; and WHEREAS, in recognition that the City, as a whole, is the dense urban center of the county and in general experiences reduced VMT per capita, the City desires to revise the VMT thresholds of significance to be at the current jurisdiction baseline; and WHEREAS, on November 6, 2024, the Transportation Board of the City of Riverside, California, considered revising the City’s VMT thresholds of significance to be the current jurisdictional baseline VMT per capita for residential projects and the current jurisdictional baseline VMT per employee for new office and industrial projects and revise the Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines accordingly, and recommended to the City Council that the revisions to the VMT thresholds of significance and Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines be approved; and WHEREAS, on November 21, 2024, the Planning Commission of the City of Riverside, California, considered revising the City’s VMT thresholds of significance to be the current jurisdictional baseline VMT per capita for residential projects and the current jurisdictional baseline VMT per employee for new office and industrial projects and revise the Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines accordingly; and recommended to the City Council that the revisions to the VMT thresholds of significance and Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines be approved; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Riverside advertised for and held a public hearing on December 17, 2024, to consider revising the City’s VMT thresholds of significance for purposes of analyzing transportation impacts under the CEQA to be the current jurisdictional baseline VMT per capita for residential projects and the current jurisdictional baseline VMT per employee for new office and industrial projects and revise the Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines; and
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28 CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
3750 UNIVERSITY AVE., STE. 250
RIVERSIDE, CA 92501
(951) 826-5567
WHEREAS, the City Council received and considered the reports and recommendations from the Transportation Board, the Planning Commission, and all other testimony, whether written or oral, presented at the public hearing.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Riverside, California, as follows:
Section 1: The foregoing recitals are all true and correct.
Section 2: Resolution No. 23589 is hereby amended by revising the following sections:
1. For new residential projects, utilizing a threshold consistent with the City’s current jurisdictional baseline VMT Per Capita.
2. For new office and industrial projects, utilizing a threshold consistent with the City’s current jurisdictional baseline VMT Per Employee.
Section 3: This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
ADOPTED by the City Council this _________ day of _____________, 2024.
___________________________
PATRICIA LOCK DAWSON Mayor of the City of Riverside Attest: _____________________________ DONESIA GAUSE City Clerk of the City of Riverside / / / /
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28 CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
3750 UNIVERSITY AVE., STE. 250
RIVERSIDE, CA 92501
(951) 826-5567
I, Donesia Gause, City Clerk of the City of Riverside, California, hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly and regularly adopted at a meeting of the City Council of said City at its meeting held on the _________ day of _____________, 2024, by the following vote, to wit:
Ayes: Noes: Absent: Abstain: IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Riverside, California, this ________ day of ______________, 2024. _________________________________
DONESIA GAUSE City Clerk of the City of Riverside
CA: 24-1793.2 TAT 11/13/24