1 City Council Meeting: January 27, 2026 Santa Monica, California RESOLUTION NUMBER ______ (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
CERTIFYING THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT AND
ADOPTING A MITIGATION MONITORING AND REPORTING PROGRAM FOR THE
MEMORIAL PARK REDEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION PROJECT
WHEREAS, the California Environmental Quality Act, California Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq. (“CEQA”) requires that cities consider the environmental consequences of their actions before approving a “project”; and WHEREAS, a Notice of Preparation (“NOP”) of an EIR for the Memorial Park Redevelopment and Expansion Project (“Project”) was published and circulated on February 27, 2025 with the public review period ending on April 1, 2025; and WHEREAS, a public scoping meeting for the EIR was held in person on March 12 2025; and
WHEREAS, a Notice of Completion / Notice of Availability (“NOC/NOA”) for a Draft EIR (“Draft EIR”) was published on September 19, 2025 in compliance with CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines, Title 14, Division 6, Chapter 3 of the California Code of Regulations; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15105, the Draft EIR was circulated for a 45-day period, which ended on November 3, 2025; and WHEREAS, the Draft EIR analyzed the potential environmental impacts that could result from the Project and three alternatives; and
2 WHEREAS, the Final EIR, which includes responses to written comments on the Draft EIR, was published in January 2026; and
WHEREAS, on January 27, 2026 the City Council, received public testimony and written submittals, including the City staff report and the Final EIR, and engaged in a deliberative process; and
WHEREAS, after considering all such oral and written testimony in its decisionmaking process, the City Council desires to consider approval of Alternative 2 (Use of Natural Grass Turf and Non-Plastic Playground Equipment), which is described fully and analyzed in the Final EIR; and
WHEREAS, the City Council as Lead Agency has reviewed and considered the contents of the Final EIR in its decision-making process, and independently determined that the Final EIR has been prepared in accordance with CEQA and the CEQA guidelines;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council hereby certifies that:
1) The Final EIR for the Project was completed in full compliance with State law and the CEQA Guidelines, there was adequate public review of the Draft EIR, and the Final EIR adequately analyzes and discloses all potentially significant environmental impacts; and
2) The Final EIR was presented to the City Council, and the City Council has reviewed and considered the information contained in the Final EIR, including all comments on the Draft EIR and responses to comments, in its 3 decision-making process prior to acting on the Project; and 3) The Final EIR reflects the independent judgement and analysis of the City.
SECTION 2. Consistent with CEQA Guidelines Section 15128, Section 4 of the Final EIR and the Initial Study (Appendix A of the Final EIR) determined that the following environmental impacts were not considered potentially significant: aesthetics and shadow/shade effects, agriculture and forestry resources, biological resources, construction effects, energy, geology and soils, hazards and hazardous materials (airport hazards, emergency response and evacuation plans, and wildland fires), hydrology and water quality, land use and planning, mineral resources, neighborhood effects, noise, population and housing, public services, recreation, transportation, utilities and service systems, and wildfire.
SECTION 3. Consistent with CEQA Guidelines Section 15091 and 15092, and as analyzed in the Final EIR, the City Council finds that the following Project impacts would be less than significant without mitigation: air quality, cultural resources (historic resources), greenhouse gas emissions, and hazards and hazardous materials (hazardous emissions near schools).
SECTION 4. Consistent with CEQA Guidelines Sections 15091 and 15092, and as analyzed in the Final EIR, the City Council finds that the following Project impacts could be reduced to a less than significant level with the implementation of mitigation measures established in Section 10 of the Final EIR: cultural and tribal cultural resources (archaeological resources, buried human remains, and tribal cultural resources) and hazards and hazardous materials (routine use, accidental conditions, and hazardous materials sites).
4 SECTION 5. Consistent with CEQA Guidelines Sections 15091 and 15092, and as analyzed in the Final EIR, the City Council finds that Project would not result in any significant and unavoidable impacts that cannot be feasibility avoided or mitigated to below a level of significance.
SECTION 6. The Final EIR found that Alternative 2 (Use of Natural Grass Turf and Non-Plastic Playground Equipment) is the environmentally superior alternative.
Alternative 2 would replace the synthetic turf fields with natural grass turf fields and replace the plastic playground equipment with non-plastic materials, such as engineered wood fiber, wood chips/bark, pea gravel, sand, and/or metal parts. As such, Alternative 2 would avoid the use of Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and microplastics that have potential to degrade over time, resulting in potential contamination of water and soil and potential adverse effects on human health. Under this alternative, all other components of the Project would be implemented and impacts regarding air quality, cultural and tribal cultural resources, greenhouse gas emissions, and hazards and hazardous materials (hazardous materials sites) would be the same as those described for the Project.
Alternative 2 has the potential to increase water demands compared to the Project and the other alternatives, due to the increased irrigation needs for the natural grass fields. However, when compared to the existing conditions and the City’s non-potable water supply, the impacts would be insignificant. Alternative 2 would meet the primary Project Objectives except for the community’s need for year-round field space. For example, the use of natural grass likely would periodically prevent the use of the fields during the rainy season, as saturated grass fields can lead to muddy and unsafe playing conditions. However, these 5 conditions would be similar to existing conditions with the existing natural grass fields at Memorial Park.
SECTION 7. The preceding findings, although based primarily on conclusions in the Final EIR, have not attempted to describe the full analysis of each environmental impact contained in the Final EIR. Instead, the findings incorporate by reference the discussions and analyses in the Final EIR and supporting reference documents supporting the Final EIR’s determinations regarding the nature and severity of the impacts of the Project and mitigation measures designed to address those impacts. In making these findings, the City Council ratifies, adopts, and incorporates into these findings the analysis and explanation in the Final EIR and ratifies, adopts, and incorporates in these findings the determinations and conclusions of the Final EIR.
SECTION 8. Consistent with Public Resources Code Section 21081.6, the documents which constitute the record of proceedings for approving this Project are located in the Community Development Department, 1685 Main Street, Santa Monica, California.
The custodian of these documents is Rachel Kwok, Environmental Planner.
SECTION 9. The City Clerk shall certify the adoption of this Resolution, and thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Heidi von Tongeln
Interim City Attorney