RESOLUTION NO.
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, CERTIFYING THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE RIVERSIDE ALIVE PROJECT, MAKING CERTAIN FINDINGS OF FACT RELATED THERETO PURSUANT TO THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT.
WHEREAS, the City of Riverside (“City”) owns a 108,000-gross-square-foot convention facility (“Riverside Convention Center”) and associated surface parking lot (“Lot 33”), comprising a 10.28-acre site in Downtown Riverside (the “Site”); and WHEREAS, the City is considering a new mixed-use entertainment and hospitality development and expansion of the Riverside Convention Center (the “Riverside Alive Project” or “Project”); and WHEREAS, the City elected to conduct the necessary environmental review pursuant to CEQA to analyze a maximum likely development intensity for the Project site; and WHEREAS, in accordance with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) (Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.), the State of California CEQA Guidelines (“State CEQA Guidelines”) (California Code of Regulations Title 14, Chapter 3, Sections 15000 et seq.) and the City of Riverside (“City”) CEQA Guidelines (collectively “CEQA Regulations”) an Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) was prepared for the Project; and WHEREAS, in accordance with the requirements of Section 15082(a) of the State CEQA Guidelines, the City prepared and distributed a Notice of Preparation (“NOP”), which included the Initial Study, to all appropriate responsible and trustee agencies and to all organizations and individuals requesting notice, state that an EIR would be prepared for the Project; and WHEREAS, the NOP was posted with the State Clearinghouse on October 9, 2024, (SCH#2024100396), beginning a 30-day public review period; and WHEREAS, any responses to the NOP were considered in the preparation of the Draft EIR and interested agencies and individuals were contacted to secure their input; and / /
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WHEREAS, the Draft EIR was completed and a Notice of Completion (“NOC”) and the Draft EIR was filed with the State Clearinghouse on or about May 19, 2025, in accordance with the provisions of section 15085 of the State CEQA Guidelines; and WHEREAS, the Notice of Availability for the DEIR was published in the Press Enterprise and distributed to a variety of government agencies, organizations and interested parties, including: local jurisdictions, tribal governments, state and federal agencies, resource agencies, water districts and boards, transportation agencies, community groups and organizations, business organizations, chambers of commerce, universities and school districts, senior/aging organizations, interested parties and members of the public; and the DEIR was also posted on the City’s website and made available for review at City Hall at 3900 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92522, and at the Riverside Public Library, Orange Terrace Branch at 20010-B Orange Terrace Parkway, Riverside, CA 92508; and WHEREAS, the NOC and the NOA provided a 45‐day public review period beginning May 23rd, 2025, and ending July 7th, 2025; and WHEREAS, the City received written and oral comments on the Draft EIR during this public comment period, as well as after the close of the public comment period; and WHEREAS, all comments on the Draft EIR concerning environmental issues that were received during the public review period were evaluated by the City as the Lead Agency in accordance with Section 15088 of the State CEQA Guidelines and responded to in accordance with the law; and WHEREAS, the City Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing on the Draft EIR on August 28, 2025; and WHEREAS, the Final EIR dated December 24, 2025, for the Project consists of the May 23, 2025, Draft EIR, comments and recommendations received on the Draft EIR, responses to comments on the Draft EIR, appendices to the DEIR, changes to the Draft EIR, and a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (collectively “FEIR”); and / /
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WHEREAS, the FEIR includes comments received on the Draft EIR and written responses to those comments, the focus of which is on the disposition of significant environmental issues raised in the comments, as specified by CEQA Guidelines section 15088(b); and WHEREAS, the FEIR contains the elements required by the CEQA Regulations, including, but not limited to: (a) identification, description and discussion of all potentially significant environmental effects of the proposed Project; (b) a description of mitigation measures proposed to minimize potential significant environmental effects on the project identified in the FEIR; (c) a description of those potential environmental effects which cannot be avoided or can be mitigated but not to a level of insignificance; (d) a description of a range of reasonable alternatives to the proposed Project and evaluation of the comparative merits and potential significant environmental effects of the alternatives; (e) a discussion of cumulative impacts in accordance with the requirements of section 15130 of the State CEQA Guidelines; (f) a discussion of growth inducing impacts; (g) a discussion of significant irreversible environmental changes; (h) a discussion of energy conservation; and (i) a list of all federal, state and local agencies, other organizations and private individuals consulted in preparing the FEIR and the firm preparing the FEIR; and WHEREAS, the City Council held a duly noticed hearing on the FEIR on January 6, 2026, at which time additional written and oral testimony was received; and WHEREAS, the City Council has been presented with and is familiar with the information in the administrative record, including the Staff Reports and the written and verbal testimony submitted thereon, and has reviewed and considered the information in the FEIR for completeness and compliance with the CEQA Regulations, has independently reviewed and analyzed the FEIR and has duly heard and considered the Staff Reports and all written and oral arguments presented at its meeting of January 6, 2026; and WHEREAS, the City Council certifies that (1) the FEIR for the Project has been completed in compliance with CEQA; (2) that the FEIR was presented to the City Council, and that the City Council reviewed and considered the information contained in the FEIR prior to making a decision on the Project; and (3) the FEIR reflects the City’s independent judgment and analysis, and has reviewed and considered all comments received during the public review process and at the public hearings; and WHEREAS, the City Council found that the Project identified in the FEIR incorporated alterations or mitigation measures that avoid or substantially lessen potentially significant environmental effects associated with the Project to the fullest extent feasible; and WHEREAS, the City has not received any comments or additional information that constitutes substantial new information requiring recirculation under Public Resources Code section 21092.1 and State CEQA Guidelines section 15088.5; and WHEREAS, all requirements of the CEQA Regulations have been satisfied by the City in the EIR, which is sufficiently detailed so that all of the potentially significant environmental effects of the Project have been adequately evaluated.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Riverside, California, and making the following findings, as follows:
Section 1: The above recitals are hereby found and determined to be true and correct and are hereby incorporated herein as if stated in full.
Section 2: The City Council hereby makes the following findings and conclusions:
The FEIR for the Project has been completed and processed in compliance with the requirements of CEQA; The FEIR was presented to the City Council, and the City Council, as the decision making body for the City, reviewed and considered the information contained in the FEIR and the administrative record as a whole, which includes, but is not limited to, staff reports, testimony and information received, and scientific and factual data presented in evidence during the review process, prior to approving the Project; and The FEIR reflects the City’s independent judgment and analysis.
Section 3: The City Council hereby finds that any changes to the FEIR in response to comments received on the Draft EIR merely clarify, amplify or make insignificant modifications to an already adequate EIR pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15088.5(b) and that no significant new information has been received that would require recirculation.
Section 4: The City Council finds that the Record of Proceedings for the proposed Project consists of the following documents, among others:
• The Notice of Preparation and all other public notices issued by the City of Riverside and in conjunction with the proposed Project. • The Draft and Final EIRs, including appendices and technical studies included or referenced in the Draft and Final EIRs. • All comments submitted by agencies or members of the public during the public comment period on the Draft EIR and after the close of the public comment period, including those received prior to the Planning Commission and City Council meetings. • All Findings and resolutions adopted by the City of Riverside decision makers in connection with the proposed Project and all documents cited or referred to therein. • All reports, studies, memoranda, maps, staff reports, or other planning documents relating to the proposed Project prepared by Albert A. Webb Associates, Inc., consultants to the City of Riverside, those reports, technical memoranda relating to the proposed project prepared by dBF Associates Inc., and South Environmental LLC. • All documents and information submitted to the City of Riverside by responsible trustee, or other public agencies, or by individuals or organizations, in connection with the proposed Project, up through the date that the City approved the proposed Project. • Any documentary or other evidence submitted to the City of Riverside at such information sessions, public meetings, and public hearings. • Matters of common knowledge to the City of Riverside, including but not limited to applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
Section 5: Potential environmental effects have been studied and, except as stated in Section 8 below, there is no substantial evidence in the record, as a whole, that supports any argument that the Project, as designed and mitigated, may cause a significant effect on the environment. No facts, reasonable assumptions predicated on facts, testimony supported by adequate factual foundation, or expert opinion supported by facts has been submitted that refute the conclusions reached by the FEIR, studies, data and reports. Nor does anything in the record alter the environmental determination, as presented, based upon investigation and independent assessment of those studies, data and reports. No new significant impacts have been raised by any commenting individual or entity, nor has any significant new information been added to the FEIR that would require recirculation under State CEQA Guidelines section 15088.5.
Section 6: The FEIR dated December 24, 2025, for the Project reflects the independent judgment of the City based upon the findings and conclusions stated in the FEIR, staff reports, and in consideration of testimony and information received, and scientific and factual data presented in evidence during the review process.
Section 7: The City Council finds that the FEIR dated December 24, 2025, has fully examined the environmental impacts of the Project and, based on the information in the administrative record, including the analysis in the FEIR, has determined that the impacts on aesthetics, agricultural and forestry resources, air quality (except cumulatively considerable net increase of any criteria pollutant for which the Project region is in not-attainment, generating greenhouse gas emissions, either directly or indirectly, and cumulative impacts to air quality and greenhouse gas emissions), biological resources, cultural resources, energy, geology and soils, hazards and hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, land use and planning, mineral resources, noise, population and housing, public services, recreation, transportation, tribal cultural resources, utilities and service systems, and wildfire either have no impact, are less than significant or are potentially significant but that with mitigation the impacts are reduced to less than significant based on findings and analysis contained in the FEIR (collectively “Findings”).
Section 8: The City Council finds that the FEIR dated December 24, 2025, has fully examined the environmental concerns associated with the Project and, based on the information in the administrative record, including the analysis in the FEIR, has determined that the following significant impacts, identified in the FEIR, cannot be mitigated to a level of insignificant: air quality (cumulatively considerable net increase of any criteria pollutant for which the Project region is in not-attainment) and greenhouse gas emissions (generate greenhouse gas emissions, either directly or indirectly), and cumulative impacts to air quality and from greenhouse gas emissions.
Section 9: With the exception of the impacts identified in Section 8 above, the City Council finds that the Project, including all mitigation measures, conditions, permits and approvals will not have any other significant adverse unmitigated impacts on the environment. Potential environmental effects have been studied and there is no substantial evidence in the record, as a whole, that supports any argument that the Project, as designed and mitigated, would cause a significant effect on the environment, except as to the impacts identified in Section 8. No facts, reasonable assumptions predicated on facts, testimony supported by adequate factual foundation, or expert opinion supported by facts has been submitted that refute the conclusions reached by the FEIR, studies, data and reports. Nor does anything in the record alter the environmental determination, as presented, based upon investigation and independent assessment of those studies, data and reports.
Section 10: The FEIR dated December 24, 2025, for the Project has been completed and processed in compliance with the requirements of the CEQA Regulations (both state and local), and based on the entirety of the administrative record is hereby certified.
Section 11: The City Council hereby finds that the locations of documents and other materials which constitute the record of proceedings upon which its decision is based are the Community & Economic Development Department, Planning Division and the City Clerk’s Office located at 3900 Main Street, Riverside, California 92522, and the custodian of such records shall be the Community & Economic Development Director and the City Clerk, respectively. / /
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ADOPTED by the City Council this _________ day of _______________, 2026. ________________________________
PATRICIA LOCK DAWSON
Mayor of the City of Riverside
Attest:
__________________________
DONESIA GAUSE
City Clerk of the City of Riverside
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 on the ____ day of ____________, 2026, by the following vote, to wit:
Ayes:
Noes:
Abstain:
Absent:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Riverside, California, this ___ day of _____________, 2026. _________________________
DONESIA GAUSE
City Clerk of the City of Riverside
312469 ALB 12/16/25
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