RESOLUTION NO. R-24-21
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN
MARINO, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING UPDATED “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
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, the City’s project review process will retain “level of service” analysis to ensure consistency with the General Plan; and
WHEREAS, CEQA Guidelines section 15064.3 goes into effect on July 1, 2020, though public agencies may elect to be governed by this section immediately; and WHEREAS, the City of San Marino is one of 26 San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments CITY OF SAN MARINO RESOLUTION NO. R-23-14
(SGVCOG) member cities that opted into the SGVCOG SB 743 Implementation process; and WHEREAS, at the conclusion of the process, the SGVCOG VMT Evaluation Tool was developed for the SGVCOG region, including VMT screening establishing the City’s baseline threshold of SGVCOG region for all VMT significance metrics; and
WHEREAS, the current SGVCOG VMT Evaluation Tool is based on VMT outputs from the 2016 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategies (RTP/SCS) trip-based model and needs to be updated to be consistent with the 2020 RTP/SCS activity-based model.
Additionally, changes in population, employment, and traffic counts have been updated in the 2020 RTP/SCS; and
WHEREAS, both updates have resulted in changes to the VMT threshold numbers and low VMT areas throughout the SGVCOG region; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of San Marino, California as follows:
SECTION 1. The City of San Marino hereby adopts VMT thresholds for each VMT type based on 15 percent below the baseline VMT1 that sets the most achievable VMT target. The VMT per employee threshold for employment-generating projects shall be based on 15 percent below either the SGVCOG Northwest Subarea or SGVCOG Region, whichever results in the lowest numerical value. The VMT per capita thresholds for residential projects may be based on the City, SGVCOG Northwest Subarea, or SGVCOG Region, whichever results in the lowest numerical value. The VMT per service population thresholds for mixed-use projects may be based on the City, SGVCOG Northwest Subarea, or SGVCOG Region, whichever results in the lowest numerical value.
SECTION 2. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by the City Council, and the Clerk of the Council shall attest to and certify the vote adopting this Resolution PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED, at a meeting of the City Council of the City of San Marino, California, on this 12th day of June, 2024.
STEVEN HUANG, MAYOR
1 The baseline VMT shall be based on the most current and available Southern California Association of Governments Regional Transportation Plan travel demand model.
CITY OF SAN MARINO RESOLUTION NO. R-23-14
ATTEST:
ALISON WALKER, CITY CLERK
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) ss.
CITY OF SAN MARINO )
I, Alison Walker, City Clerk of the City of San Marino, California, hereby certify that Resolution No. R-24-21 was adopted by the City Council of the City of San Marino at a regular meeting held on the 12th day of June, 2024, and that the same was adopted by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
________________________________
ALISON WALKER, CITY CLERK
CITY OF SAN MARINO