RESOLUTION NO. _____
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA ACCEPTING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT PREPARED BY THE CALIFORINA ENERGY COMMISSION, MAKING RESPONSIBLE AGENCY FINDINGS, AND ADOPTING A MITIGATION MONITORING AND REPORTING PROGRAM FOR THE DATA CENTER PROJECT LOCATED AT 2805 BOWERS AVENUE, SANTA CLARA
SCH# 2023020228
PLN21-15069 (General Plan Amendment, Use Permit, Architectural Review) WHEREAS, on August 4, 2021, HMH Engineers (“Applicant”), on behalf of GI Partners (“Owner”) made an application for the development of a 5.12-acre site (Assessor’s Parcel Numbers: 216-28-063) located at 2805 Bowers Avenue in Santa Clara (“Project Site”); WHEREAS, the Project Site has a General Plan designation of High Intensity Office / Research and Development. The Project Site is zoned High Intensity Office and is zoned Office/R&D-High Intensity (HO-RD); WHEREAS, the Project Site is currently developed with a 104,000 square-foot two-story office building, surface parking lot and site landscaping; WHEREAS, the Owner proposes to construct a 244,068 square foot, four-story data center building housing computer servers and administrative functions, rooftop mechanical equipment, and generator equipment yard with 32, three megawatt (MW) tier 4 compliant renewable diesel-fired emergency backup generators, with a maximum peak generating capacity of 72 MW, an electric substation, a surface parking lot and on- and off-site improvements; in conjunction with demolition of the existing structures and site improvements (“Project”); WHEREAS, the Project requires a General Plan Amendment, a Use Permit, and Architectural Review by the City, and a rezoning of the Project Site to Light Industrial. The Owner simultaneously applied for a Small Power Plant Exemption (“SPPE”) from the California Energy Commission (“CEC”), which granted the SPPE on November 8, 2023; WHEREAS, the CEC is the state agency authorized to approve or deny all thermal Power Plants and related facilities of 50 megawatts (MW) or greater, and pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 25519(c), the CEC is the Lead Agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) for such thermal Power Plants; WHEREAS, the City of Santa Clara is a Responsible Agency under CEQA, and must make a determination as to the adequacy of the environmental documentation prepared for the Project; WHEREAS, the CEC, as Lead Agency, prepared the Draft Environmental Impact Report (“DEIR”) for the Project in accordance with CEQA and circulated copies for 45-day review to public agencies which have jurisdiction by law with respect to the Project, as well as to other interested persons and agencies, and sought the comments of such persons and agencies beginning on August 10, 2023 and concluding on September 29, 2023 (“Comment Period”); WHEREAS, the EIR identified certain potentially significant adverse impacts on the environment with Project development that with implementation of the mitigation measures specified in the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (“MMRP") for the Project would reduce the potentially significant effects to less than significant; WHEREAS, the CEC prepared written responses to the comments received during the Comment Period and included these responses in a Final Environmental Impact Report (“FEIR”); WHEREAS, the DEIR and FEIR constitute the EIR for the Project; WHEREAS, the CEC certified the EIR and approved the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (“MMRP”) and a Small Power Plant Exemption for the Project at a duly noticed Business Meeting on November 8, 2023 (“Docket No: 22-SPPE-01”); WHEREAS, the City is required whenever possible, pursuant to CEQA, to adopt all feasible mitigation measures that can substantially lessen or avoid any significant environmental effects of the Project; WHEREAS, CEQA Guidelines § 15096(h) requires a Responsible Agency, before approving a project for which an EIR has been prepared and certified, to adopt findings specifying whether mitigation measures and, in some instances, alternatives discussed in the EIR, have been adopted or rejected as infeasible; WHEREAS, the significant and potentially significant environmental effects associated with the Project, as approved, can either be reduced to less than significant or be avoided through the inclusion of mitigation measures proposed in the EIR; WHEREAS, on March 6, 2024, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing, at the conclusion of which, the Planning Commission was unable to reach an agreement on the use permit or on a recommendation on the General Plan Amendment. Pursuant to the Santa Clara City Code, the lack of action constituted a denial of the use permit and a recommendation of denial on the General Plan Amendment; WHEREAS, on March 6, 2024, the Planning Commission at the conclusion of the duly noticed public hearing did not take action on the Environmental document pursuant to CEQA guidelines 15270; WHEREAS, on August 17, 2024, a notice of the public hearing on the proposed General Plan Amendment was published in the Mercury News, a newspaper of general circulation for the City, for the City Council Hearing to be conducted on August 27, 2024; WHEREAS, on August 15, 2024, notices of the public meeting for the City Council Hearing of August 27, 2024, were mailed to all property owners within 2,000 feet of the Project Site boundaries and to the schools/daycares located within the vicinity, including Bracher Elementary School, Wilcox High School, Eliana’s Daycare, and Little Starfish Bilingual Daycare; and WHEREAS, on August 27, 2024, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing to consider the EIR, General Plan Amendment, Use permit and Architectural review application, at which time all interested persons were given an opportunity to give testimony and the City Council considered the information presented in the Staff Report and all verbal and written evidence.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF SANTA CLARA AS FOLLOWS:
That pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15050(b), the City Council as a Responsible Agency has reviewed and considered the information contained in the EIR for the Project.
That pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15096(h), the City Council hereby adopts the findings made by the California Energy Commission contained in the FEIR, and further finds that approval of the Project as mitigated will have no significant negative effects on the area’s environmental resources, cumulative or otherwise, as the impacts as mitigated fall within the environmental thresholds identified by CEQA, and the Council hereby accepts the EIR.
That the City Council hereby adopts the MMRP, as adopted by the CEC, for implementation with Project Development as required by Section 15097(a) of the CEQA Guidelines.
That the City Council hereby designates the Acting Director of Community Development as the Custodian of Records for the Project, and the Planning Division at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Avenue, Santa Clara, California, is the location of the documents and other material that constitute the record of proceedings upon which this decision is based.
5. Effective date. This resolution shall become effective immediately.
I HEREBY CERTIFY THE FOREGOING TO BE A TRUE COPY OF A RESOLUTION PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE CITY OF SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, AT A REGULAR MEETING THEREOF HELD ON THE 27TH DAY OF AUGUST 2024, BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES: COUNCILORS:
NOES: COUNCILORS:
ABSENT: COUNCILORS:
ABSTAINED: COUNCILORS:
ATTEST:
NORA PIMENTEL, MMC
ASSISTANT CITY CLERK
CITY OF SANTA CLARA
Attachments Incorporated by Reference:
1. Development Plans
Resolution/ 2805 Bowers Avenue- EIR Page 7 of 4
Rev. 11-22-17