Resolution No. 2022-07-xxxx
July 12, 2022
RESOLUTION NO. 2022-07-xxxx
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SIGNAL HILL, CALIFORNIA: (1) ADOPTING
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS PURSUANT TO THE
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT, (2)
CERTIFYING THE 2021-2029 SIGNAL HILL HOUSING
ELEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT (SCH NO.
2021050296), AND (3) ADOPTING THE MITIGATION
MONITORING AND REPORTING PROGRAM RELATIVE
TO THE CITY’S 6
TH CYCLE HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE,
GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT 22-02 AND ZONING
ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS 22-01, 22-02, 22-03, AND 22-
04. WHEREAS, California State law requires the City of Signal Hill (“City”) to adopt a General Plan with seven required elements, one of which is the Housing Element.
The City’s Housing Element identifies Signal Hill’s housing needs and opportunities and establishes clear goals and objectives to inform future housing decisions; and WHEREAS, State law further requires the City’s Housing Element to be updated every eight years and also provides the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) unique authority over the Housing Element including determining whether the City has demonstrated sufficiently zoned capacity for housing to accommodate the number of units identified in the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation; and
WHEREAS, it has been determined by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) that the City of Signal Hill must appropriately rezone to accommodate its RHNA allocation of 517 residential units during this 6 th Cycle Housing
Element planning period of 2021-2029 (hereinafter, the “Housing Element Update”); and WHEREAS, the draft Housing Element Update contains a Housing Inventory List made up of four sites (“Housing Sites”), referred to as “Heritage Square”, “Town Center Northwest”, “Orange Bluff”, and “Walnut Bluff”, to accommodate the Resolution No. 2022-07-xxxx
July 12, 2022
mandated RHNA allocation in the extremely low-, very low-, low-, moderate-, and above moderate-income categories; and
WHEREAS, in order to implement the Housing Element Update, it is necessary for the City to rezone the properties underlying the Housing Sites by way of Zoning Ordinance Amendments and General Plan Amendments; and WHEREAS, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code, §21000 et seq.) and the State CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations, title 14, §15000 et seq.) (collectively, “CEQA”), an Initial Study analyzing all potential impacts of the Project (where “Project” is defined as the Housing Element Update (i.e. GPA 22-01), Zoning Ordinance Amendments 22-01, 22-02, 22-03 and 22- 04, and General Plan Amendment 22-02) was prepared for the City’s consideration as the lead agency under State CEQA Guidelines section 15063, to evaluate whether an Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) was required; and
WHEREAS, on the basis of the Initial Study, potential environmental impacts include Air Quality, Cultural Resources, Energy, Geology and Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Land Use/Planning, Noise, Population and Housing, Public Services, Transportation/Traffic, and Tribal Cultural Resources and the City therefore determined an EIR was required; and WHEREAS, on the basis of the Initial Study, the City further determined that impacts to Aesthetics, Agricultural and Forestry Resources, Biological Resources, Hydrology/Water Quality, Mineral Resources, Recreation, Utilities/Service Systems, and Wildfire, would be less than significant and thus need not be analyzed further in the EIR; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with State CEQA Guidelines section 15082, on May 14, 2021, the City sent to the Office of Planning and Research and each responsible Resolution No. 2022-07-xxxx
July 12, 2022
and trustee agency a Notice of Preparation (“NOP”) stating that an EIR (State Clearinghouse No. 2021050296) would be prepared; and
WHEREAS, the Initial Study was circulated for public review from May 14, 2021, to June 14, 2021, and a virtual scoping meeting was held on May 18, 2021, to solicit comments on the scope of the environmental review of the proposed Project, and one comment was received via email; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the State of California Public Resources Code Sections 21091 and 21092 and the State CEQA Guidelines Sections 15105 and 15087, the City prepared and made available a Draft Environmental Impact Report (“DEIR”) for the City’s draft 2021-2029 Housing Element for 45 days between September 30, 2021, and November 15, 2021, for which one comment was received and addressed in the Recirculated DEIR (“RDEIR”); and
WHEREAS, the DEIR evaluated the environmental impacts associated with implementation of the Housing Element Update, which includes enacting changes in zoning and constructing the maximum housing units on the four identified housing sites.
The DEIR also discusses alternatives and proposes mitigation measures for identified potential significant impacts that will minimize, offset, or otherwise reduce or avoid those environmental impacts; and
WHEREAS, due to a change in the DEIR of the building heights of the proposed Orange Bluff housing site, the DEIR was revised and the RDEIR was recirculated for 45 days for public review and comment from January 28, 2022 to March 14, 2022; and
WHEREAS, the RDEIR determined that mitigation measures were required to mitigate impacts to a less than significant level for the following resource areas:
subsurface archaeological and tribal cultural resources; soil conditions; hazards from subsurface hydrocarbons; and construction noise; and
Resolution No. 2022-07-xxxx
July 12, 2022
WHEREAS, the RDEIR further concluded that with the incorporation of all feasible mitigation measures, the proposed Project would not result in any significant and unavoidable impacts; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with State CEQA Guidelines section 15085, a Notice of Completion was prepared and filed with the Office of Planning and Research on January 28, 2022; and
WHEREAS, as required by State CEQA Guidelines section 15087(a), the City provided Notice of Availability of the RDEIR to the public at the same time the City sent the Notice of Completion to the Office of Planning and Research, on January 28, 2022, with a circulation timeframe from January 28, 2022, to March 14, 2022; and WHEREAS, during the public comment period, copies of the RDEIR and technical appendices were available for review and inspection at City Hall – Community Development Department and on the City’s website, and were provided to the State Clearinghouse, responsible agencies, other agencies that have commented on the NOP, and to all interested parties that have requested notice and copies of the RDEIR; and WHEREAS, during the public review period of the RDEIR, the City received no comment and proceeded to prepare the Final EIR (“FEIR”); and WHEREAS, on June 9, 2022, the City released the FEIR, which consists of the DEIR, RDEIR, all technical appendices prepared in support of the DEIR and RDEIR, all written comment letters received on the DEIR and RDEIR, written responses to all written comment letters on the DEIR and RDEIR, and errata to the DEIR, RDEIR and technical appendices; and
WHEREAS, the “EIR” consists of the FEIR and its attachments and appendices, as well as the DEIR and its attachments and appendices, and the RDEIR and its attachments and appendices (as modified by the FEIR); and Resolution No. 2022-07-xxxx
July 12, 2022
WHEREAS, all potentially significant environmental adverse impacts were sufficiently analyzed in the EIR; and
WHEREAS, as contained herein, the City has endeavored in good faith to set forth the basis for its decision on the proposed Project; and WHEREAS, the City has endeavored to take all steps and impose all conditions necessary to ensure that impacts to the environment would be less than significant; and
WHEREAS, all the requirements of the Public Resources Code and the State CEQA Guidelines have been satisfied by the City in connection with the preparation of the EIR, which is sufficiently detailed so that all of the potentially significant environmental effects of the Project have been adequately evaluated; and WHEREAS, on June 10, 2022, pursuant to state law, a notice of public hearing before the Planning Commission regarding the Project was mailed to all property owners within 300 feet of the properties, was published in the Signal Tribune newspaper, was emailed or mailed by first-class mail to any person who has filed a written request for notice, and was posted in the designated public places; and WHEREAS, on June 21, 2022, the Planning Commission conducted a duly noticed Public Hearing and all persons were given an opportunity to comment on the Project and its environmental findings, the EIR, and all evidence presented before and during the hearing and contained in the administrative record and five verbal public comments were given- three by the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters (SWRCC) requesting a local hire component requirement and two comments in favor of the Project by a resident of the Crescent Heights Historic District and a representative of Signal Hill Petroleum Inc. (SHP). SWRCC and SHP also submitted written comments. All comments are attached as Exhibit A; and
Resolution No. 2022-07-xxxx
July 12, 2022
WHEREAS, on July 1, 2022, pursuant to state law a notice of public hearing before the City Council regarding the Project was mailed to all property owners and residents within a 300-foot radius of the properties, was published in the Signal Tribune newspaper, was emailed and mailed by first-class mail to any person who has filed a written request for notice, and was posted in the designated public places; and WHEREAS, on July 12, 2022, the City Council conducted a duly noticed public hearing and all persons were given an opportunity to comment on the Project and its environmental findings, the EIR, and all evidence presented before and during the hearing and contained in the administrative record.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Signal Hill, California, does hereby find as follows:
Section 1. The above recitals are true and correct and incorporated herein by reference.
Section 2. The City Council hereby finds that it has been presented with the EIR which it has reviewed and considered, and further finds that the EIR is an accurate and objective statement that has been completed in full compliance with CEQA and the State CEQA Guidelines. The City Council finds that the EIR reflects the independent judgment and analysis of the City. The City Council declares that no evidence of new significant impacts or any new information of “substantial importance” as defined by State CEQA Guidelines section 15088.5, has been received by the City after circulation of the DEIR that would require recirculation. Therefore, the City Council hereby certifies the EIR attached as Exhibit B to this resolution based on the entirety of the record of proceedings.
Section 3. The EIR identifies the Project’s potentially significant impacts on the environment. Pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines, section 15091, the City is required to make written findings for each of these significant effects, accompanied by a brief explanation of the rationale for each finding. The City Council considers and adopts the CEQA Findings of Fact attached as Exhibit C to this Resolution in accordance with State CEQA Guidelines section 15091.
Section 4. The EIR includes mitigation measures to reduce significant impacts of the Project. Therefore, the City Council adopts the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (“MMRP”) attached as Exhibit D to this Resolution in accordance with State CEQA Guidelines section 15097 and make implementation of the mitigation measures contained in the MMRP a condition of approval of the Project. In the event of Resolution No. 2022-07-xxxx
July 12, 2022
any inconsistencies between the mitigation measures set forth in the EIR or the Findings of Fact and the MMRP, the MMRP shall control.
Section 5. The documents and materials that constitute the record of proceedings on which this Resolution has been based are in the custody of the City Clerk, the City of Signal Hill, and are located at City of Signal Hill Community Development Department, 2175 Cherry Avenue, Signal Hill, California 90755. This information is provided pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21081.6.
Section 6. The City Council will direct City staff to cause a Notice of Determination to be filed and posted with the County Clerk and the State Clearinghouse within five working days of the adoption of the City Council Resolution.
Resolution No. 2022-07-xxxx
July 12, 2022
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council on this 12th day of July 2022.
____________________________________
KEIR JONES
MAYOR
ATTEST:
___________________________
CARMEN R. BROOKS
SECRETARY
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES )ss.
CITY OF SIGNAL HILL )
I, CARMEN R. BROOKS, City Clerk for the City Council of the City of Signal Hill, California, do hereby certify that Resolution No. 2022-07-xxxx was adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Signal Hill on the 12th day of July 2022 by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
CARMEN R. BROOKS
CITY CLERK
Exhibit A
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Exhibit B
Signal Hill Housing Element Final EIR
EXHIBIT C
CEQA FINDINGS OF FACT
EXHIBIT D
Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program