City of Palo Alto (ID # 6220) City Council Staff Report

Transcription

1 City of Palo Alto (ID # 6220) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Action Items Meeting Date: 1/11/2016 Summary Title: 1050 Page Mill Road - Review of Final EIR and Project Title: PUBLIC HEARING: Approval of the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) and Record of Land Use Action to Allow Demolition of Four Existing Structures Totaling 265,895 sf and For Construction of Four Two-Story Office Buildings Totaling 265,895 Square Feet of Floor Area with Below and At- Grade Parking and Other Site Improvements. Zoning District: Research Park (RP) located at 1050 Page Mill Road. Environmental Assessment: A Final Environmental Impact Report has been prepared From: City Manager Lead Department: Planning and Community Environment Recommendation Staff recommends that City Council: 1. Certify the Final Environmental Impact Report and Adopt a project specific Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (Attachments G); and, 2. Adopt a Record of Land Use Action (Attachment A) approving the Architectural Review application for four new office buildings at 1050 Page Mill Road. Executive Summary The project includes the redevelopment of the existing 13.5-acre lease parcel with four twostory buildings with one level of below grade parking under each building. The four new office buildings with the same total floor area as the existing structures would be placed around the perimeter of the site, leaving a landscaped central plaza area. As noted in the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR), implementation of this project would result in significant environmental impacts that can be mitigated via mitigation measures that are proposed for inclusion as conditions of approval. All substantive comments on the Draft EIR have been responded to in the Final EIR. Prior to making a decision to approve the discretionary applications, the EIR must be certified. Pursuant to the City s local guidelines for implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and past practice, only the City Council has the authority to certify EIRs. For this reason, the subject project is being considered by the City Council instead of the Director of City of Palo Alto Page 1

2 Planning and Community Environment, which would otherwise be the typical process for Architectural Review projects not requiring an EIR. The Architectural Review Board (ARB) has reviewed and recommends approval of the project. The Planning and Transportation Commission reviewed the Draft EIR and Final EIR and recommends certification. The record reflects public comments from individuals opposed to the project due to traffic concerns, pedestrian and bicycle access, and objection to the replacement of the existing building s complete floor area. A proposed Record of Land Use Action is included as Attachment A and includes proposed findings and conditions to approve the project. Attachment G includes required CEQA Findings. Background The proposed project includes demolition of four existing buildings and storage structure, totaling 265,895 square feet of floor area, historically used for offices and R&D, as well as construction of four two-story office buildings totaling 265,895 square feet with associated site improvements on a 13.5 acre lease parcel. The four new buildings are proposed to be placed around the edge of the site, leaving a landscaped central plaza area that would include seating and pedestrian walkways. Plans have been provided to the Council and are available on the City s website: The applicant is currently targeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum status for the project with the inclusion of photovoltaics covering all roofs to generate 150,000 kilowatt-hours (kwh) per year. Primary access would be from Page Mill Road at Hansen Way, a signalized intersection. Currently access is also provided to California Avenue, northwest of the site, through a connecting parking lot at 1117 California Avenue. The proposed project would maintain this connection; however, access between the adjoining parking lots would be limited by installation of an arm gate at the connection point. This arm gate would be controlled by access cards that would be issued only to employees and visitors of 1117 California Avenue. Therefore, Page Mill Road would serve as the single point of ingress/egress to the 1050 Page Mill Road project site. The proposed project includes 348 automobile parking spaces around the perimeter of the site, as well as below-grade garage parking spaces in each building (539 garage spaces) for a total of 887 code compliant automobile spaces. The project would also provide 101 bicycle parking spaces. Site Information City of Palo Alto Page 2

3 The project site, located within the Stanford Research Park, is rectangular in shape and has an area of approximately 587,363 square feet (sf). The site fronts onto Page Mill Road and currently has access to California Avenue via a driveway easement through 1117 California Avenue. The property is currently occupied by four structures totaling 265,895 sf of floor area with the front building along Page Mill Road currently occupied by Machine Zone. The existing parking lot contains 564 automobile parking spaces; less than currently required by the Municipal Code. The site has a Comprehensive Plan land use designation of Research/Office Park and a zoning designation of Research Park (RP) district. The Research/Office Park land use designation allows office, research, and manufacturing establishments whose operations are buffered from adjacent residential uses. The RP zoning district allows a limited group of research and manufacturing uses that may have unusual requirements for space, light, and air. The project site is surrounded by existing Research and Development (R&D) uses, with the exception of the Mayfield Fire Station #2 located to the south along Hanover Street. Across Page Mill Road to the east, the buildings contain additional research and manufacturing uses. Building Design The applicant s project description (Attachment D) contains a narrative about the building design. As shown in the project plans on sheets A2.1 thru A2.4 and A5.1, the proposed buildings would consist of clear glass envelopes with glass vertical fins for shading. Visual interest and additional shading would be provided by the use of aluminum ribbon type sunshades. The impervious footprint of the development would be reduced by approximately five (5) percent with the inclusion of below grading parking under the four proposed structures. These parking facilities, along with trash facilities, would be dispersed around the site to allow for efficient circulation. Circulation Primary access would be from Page Mill Road at Hansen Way, a signalized intersection. As shown on the vicinity map in the plan set, California Avenue is northwest of the site, and the 1117 California Avenue office building is located between the project site and California Avenue. The parking lots for 1117 California Avenue and the project site are connected. Although this is not a public right of way, this connection facilitates vehicular access between Page Mill Road and California Avenue. The proposed project parking lot would maintain this connection; however, access between the adjoining parking lots would be limited by installation of an arm gate at the connection point. While details for the gate are not included in the plan set, the applicant proposes an arm gate that would be controlled by access cards that would be issued to the business at 1117 California Avenue. This would provide for all employees and visitors to 1117 California Avenue to have access from both California Avenue and Page Mill Road, as is currently provided. Employees and visitors to 1050 Page Mill Road would not be given access City of Palo Alto Page 3

4 cards and therefore would not have access to or from California Avenue via this connection. Page Mill Road would serve as the single point of ingress/egress to the 1050 Page Mill Road project site. As explained in the Draft EIR, the additional traffic expected to enter the site from Page Mill Road would result in queuing impacts, as eastbound cars stack-up to make a left turn into the site. This potential impact would be addressed by reconfiguring and extending the turn lane, which would affect the configuration of the westbound turn lane serving Hansen, necessitating improvements to the Page Mill/Hansen intersection. Parking Per the PAMC 18.52, an office use of 265,895 sf in size would require a minimum of one automobile parking space per 300 gross square feet of floor area, or 886 total parking spaces. The site is currently under parked with 564 parking spaces. This project would increase parking supply by 323 spaces for a total of 887 spaces, bringing the site into conformance with the City s parking regulation. The applicant also proposes to keep an additional 86 parking spaces in landscape reserve. No parking spaces would be provided for the 10,745 sf of on-site employee amenity space. In accordance with the PAMC , the Planning Director may allow for an adjustment to the parking requirement that would exempt from the required parking calculation any building space that is considered to be on-site employee amenities. The proposed amenity space is equal to four percent of the total square footage, which is below the percentage of amenity space provided in more recent approvals and is anticipated to reduce employee vehicle trips. The project would also provide 101 bicycle parking spaces on the site, with a total of 24 shortterm spaces located at each building entry and 77 long-term spaces divided equally between the four garages, twelve (12) spaces over the Code requirements. Landscaping The project is required to conform to the City parking design standards contained in Chapter of the PAMC and preserve mature trees as possible. The County of Santa Clara has jurisdiction over Page Mill Road as it is a Country expressway. The County typically does not permit trees to be within seven feet of the roadway for safety and road maintenance concerns. Landscaping would include significant trees, and various ground cover and low plantings as shown on sheet L2.0. The proposed project includes the retention of 81 of the existing 225 trees, 20 of which are protected trees as defined by the PAMC. These mature trees and additional new trees will ensure the projects conformance with the requirement to shade 50 percent of the parking spaces within 20 years. The project also includes landscaped islands in conformance with the Code requirement of one island every 10 spaces. Where some of these islands would normally be too small to support a mature tree, staff will worked with the applicant to enlarge the island or add structural soil to support additional tree growth at the Building permit stage. City of Palo Alto Page 4

5 Lighting/Glare Impacts As shown on Sheets E 1.1 thru E2.2, proposed lighting would include pole lighting as well as bollard style lights, wall wash and in-ground lighting. All pole lighting would be directed downward to ensure minimal spillover of light across property lines. All proposed lighting would be installed along interior driveways and walkways. The lighting would have a maximum average foot-candle of 29.5 along the Building 1 perimeter pathway, which would quickly reduce to 0.1 foot-candle at any property line. Architectural Review (ARB) The ARB conducted a preliminary review of the conceptual project design on December 3, The five public speakers for the item expressed concerns about 1) vehicular traffic on California Avenue, 2) construction activities/traffic from all new development in the area, 3) incorporation of pathways for bikes and pedestrians, 4) connectivity to public transportation, 5) allowed floor area ratio, and 6) alignment of a spine road to break up the Research Park superblocks. To initiate the EIR process, the City circulated a Notice of Preparation (NOP) and Initial Study (IS) (available online at to solicit agency and public comments on the scope of the environmental analysis to be included in the EIR. The Initial Study concluded the project could have potential impacts on the environment, and therefore further study was needed in the form of a Draft EIR. The topics identified in the study as having potential impacts are Air Quality, Biological Resources, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Noise, and Transportation and Traffic. On November 20, 2014, an EIR scoping meeting was held by the ARB to inform the public that the City was beginning preparation of a Draft EIR for the redevelopment of the subject property. On July 30, 2015 the ARB reviewed the formal project and the Draft EIR. A copy of the staff report can be viewed at The ARB voted unanimously to recommend approval of the project with certain items to return to the ARB subcommittee for review. Those items included additional information about bike parking to ensure they are conveniently located, details of any perimeter fencing, railing details, roof screen material details, ensure convenient pedestrian and bike circulation throughout the site and onto other sites, and the addition of a TDM condition as offered by the applicant. The ARB discussed and heard comments from concerned residents about the project s floor area and suggested this aspect of the project be fully vetted before any approvals are granted. Planning and Transportation Commission (PTC) On August 12, 2015, the PTC reviewed the Draft EIR and provided comments. Those comments and responses are provided in the attached Final EIR. During the comment period on the DEIR the City received a total of three (3) comment letters and multiple verbal comments during the public hearings. The FEIR includes responses to the three comment letters and all verbal comments made at the two public hearings. The commonly raised comments were (1) floor City of Palo Alto Page 5

6 area ratio, (2) traffic baseline, and (3) pedestrian and bicycle access. The PTC reviewed the Final EIR on November 18, and December 9, 2015, and recommended Council approval of the Final EIR. Overall the PTC considered the EIR adequately discussed and mitigated all impacts, including traffic. One commissioner, however, voted against certification based on concern that the baseline traffic conditions inappropriately credited more office space than warranted. Part of this conclusion was supported with a reference to the zoning district s purpose section, which states office use should be limited and used to primarily to serve research and development uses. The commissioner also expressed concerns regarding the thresholds of significance used to evaluate traffic impacts. A discussion regarding the baseline conditions used in the environmental document is provided later in this report. The PTC staff reports and the verbatim minutes can be viewed on the City s website at Discussion The applicant is proposing to redevelop a site within the Research Park with land uses consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and zoning regulations. The project complies with all applicable standards; however, as provided below, there is public objection to replacing the existing square footage on site. The community also expressed an interest in a Spine Road to break up the large leaseholds between California Avenue and Page Mill Road and provide more access routes to alleviate congestion on nearby streets. Access to and from the project site from California Avenue was another concern expressed by area residents, which is addressed in the proposal. An EIR was prepared for this project to evaluate potential environmental impacts. The report concludes that all impacts are less than significant with mitigation. One mitigation measure requires left turn lane improvements to address potential queuing impacts on Page Mill Road to access the project site. These and another issues regarding pedestrian and bicycle access between these two streets is provided below. The attached Record of Land Use Action (Attachment A) details the project s compliance with the ARB findings and Comprehensive Plan consistency. Zoning Compliance and Existing FAR The RP zoning district has a minimum 20 foot requirement for front, rear, side yard setbacks, and a height limit of 35 feet. The site must also abide by a special setback of 50 feet along Page Mill Road. The proposed buildings will be set back 50 feet from the front property line and a minimum of 70 feet from the side and rear property lines. The maximum allowable lot coverage is 30% and the maximum Floor Area Ratio (FAR) in the RP district is 0.4:1 (or 40 percent of the site area). The Stanford Research Park is one single 700 acre parcel. While the Municipal Code typically uses complete legal lots to calculate FAR and City of Palo Alto Page 6

7 other development standards, for the projects in the Research Park, current practice is and has been to evaluate a project s development potential based on lease lines established by Stanford. The lease line boundaries serve as the baseline to measure setbacks, floor area and other development standards. In the late 1950s, development of the contiguous leasehold between California Avenue and Page Mill Road began and continued through At the time, all buildings complied with applicable regulations based on the established practice. Around 1999, this larger leasehold was modified creating two separate leaseholds. A new building was proposed on the resulting smaller leasehold (near California Avenue), which met applicable standards for floor area, etc. based on the new leasehold boundaries. However, this lease division resulted in the larger leasehold (near Page Mill Road) having more building floor area than would have otherwise been allowed if the practice of determining permissible floor area were followed. Staff is unable to determine the exact reason why this was not identified as an issue and addressed at the time the leasehold change was proposed and implemented, but it appears to be an oversight. Since then, Stanford and the City are more engaged in conversations about development activity in the Research Park and staff receives information about all affected properties when new lease lines are proposed or adjusted. When the subject application was filed, staff took the position that the existing buildings were noncomplying facilities and as such, pursuant to the municipal code, would be permitted to be replaced to the same noncomplying floor area, but could not expand. This position relies on a provision in the code that is paraphrased below: PAMC :.a noncomplying facility in the RP district existing on August 1, 1989, which when built was a complying facility, shall be permitted to be remodeled, improved or replaced in accordance with applicable site development regulations other than floor area ratio, provided that any such remodeling, improvement or replacement shall not result in increased floor area. As noted above, the subject building became noncomplying in or around The noncomplying facility position is predicated on the ongoing application of using the lease lines to establish building potential. Stanford has provided a letter, which is included with this report as Attachment F. The letter is generally consistent with staff s position and further explains that the leasehold practice is a desirable approach to looking at the entire 700 acre parcel as one lot for development purposes. If development were evaluated from this perspective there would be less predictability about how much building area could be placed on various leases throughout the Research Park. However, while staff supports allowing the subject building to be reconstructed at its current floor area, staff does not believe this authorizes the collective building area in the Research Park to exceed the floor area ratio for the entire 700 acre site and that a comparable City of Palo Alto Page 7

8 reduction, approximately 30,950 sf, elsewhere in the park would ultimately be needed if the Research Park were fully built out. There remains, approximately, over three quarters of one million square feet of building potential in the Research Park. Staff intends to include a findings indicating that the property owner will provide a full accounting of existing square feet in the Stanford Research Park and report any lease line changes on an annual basis. 1 Mitigation for Traffic Impacts As explained in the Draft EIR, the additional traffic expected to enter the site from Page Mill Road would result in queuing impacts, as eastbound cars stack-up to make a left turn into the site. This potential impact would be addressed by reconfiguring and extending the turn lane, which would affect the configuration of the westbound turn lane serving Hansen, necessitating improvements to the Page Mill/Hansen intersection. Spine Road As noted earlier, comments were raised in the ARB prelim process and the scoping process regarding the idea of a spine road through the site. The spine road was an idea that commercial traffic could be diverted from California Avenue if a road parallel to California, midblock, were planned for and implemented as sites within the superblock redeveloped. Though this idea has not been advanced as part of the project (and is not required for vehicle circulation pursuant to the environmental analysis), staff requested that the project site plan preserve the potential for east-west pedestrian and bicycle circulation through the site. This circulation is currently proposed via a route that jogs through the central plaza in front of Building 3 and is a private path, such that public access could be limited by the property owner. Pedestrian and Bicycle Access At the ARB s July Hearing, the public requested convenient pedestrian and bike circulation throughout the site and onto other sites. The property owner, Stanford, is not willing to voluntarily grant a public access easement across its property. It should also be noted that such an easement would only be across the 1050 Page Mill leasehold which would fall short of a connection to California Avenue, as an additional easement would be needed across the leasehold at 1117 California Avenue. However, per the site design, physical bike and pedestrian access will be incorporated into the project s landscape design. The vehicular gate will also be design to allow for bikes and pedestrians to get around it easily. However, for the public to legally go from California Avenue to Page Mill Road, they would need to use the existing sidewalks at Hanover Street. Restricted Access To/From California Avenue Primary access to the site would be from Page Mill Road at Hansen Way, a signalized intersection. Currently access is also provided to California Avenue, northwest of the site, through a connecting parking lot at 1117 California Avenue. The proposed project would 1 If Council is supportive of evaluating development standards on a lease line basis it may want to consider amending the Zoning Code to clarify this longstanding practice. This would provide both a contractual and a regulatory basis for evaluating FAR based on lease lines, rather than on the entire 700 acre parcel. City of Palo Alto Page 8

9 maintain this connection; however, access between the adjoining parking lots would be limited by installation of an arm gate at the connection point. This arm gate would be controlled by access cards that would be issued only to employees and visitors of 1117 California Avenue. Therefore, Page Mill Road would serve as the single point of ingress/egress for the 1050 Page Mill Road project site. Environmental Review City staff has worked with our environmental consultant, Dudek, to prepare an EIR that analyzes the project for potential environmental impacts in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Attachment G). The City began the environmental analysis with an Initial Study which is available online. The environmental analysis determined that the project could have a significant impact on the environment, which triggered the requirement to prepare an EIR. The City prepared a Draft EIR to provide the public and responsible agencies information about potential adverse effects on the local and regional environment associated with the proposed project. The five environmental topics covered in the Draft EIR are Air Quality, Biological Resources, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Noise, and Transportation and Traffic. The Draft EIR is provided as Attachment G for Council Members and may be viewed on the City s website at and/or The initial 45 day public comment period on the Draft EIR began on July 24, 2015 and ran through September 8, The public was invited to comment on the Draft EIR at the PTC s August 12, 2015 public hearing. All substantive comments received during the comment period were responded to in the Final EIR. At the PTC s November 18, and December 9, 2015 hearing, they reviewed the Final EIR and made a recommendation to the City Council regarding Final EIR certification. For each of the five topics, the Draft EIR describes the existing environmental and regulatory conditions, presents the criteria used to determine whether an impact would be significant, analyses significant impacts, identifies mitigation measures for each significant impact, and discusses the significance of impacts after mitigation has been applied. Potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts are all considered. The Draft EIR also analyzed impacts associated with Energy Consumption; however, these impacts were found to be less-thansignificant and do not require mitigation. The Final EIR contains the Draft EIR, the comments received during the public review period, responses to the comments, and any revisions to the Draft EIR needed as a result of public agency and public comments. The following discussion briefly describes three sections of the EIR: (1) The baseline conditions; (2) A summary of potentially significant impacts; (3) Significant and unavoidable impacts (of which there are none). City of Palo Alto Page 9

10 Baseline Conditions According to Section of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, an EIR must include a description of the existing physical environmental condition in the vicinity of the project as they exist at the time when the Notice of Preparation (NOP) is published. However, the CEQA Guidelines also recognize that physical environmental conditions may vary over a range of time, the use of environmental baselines that differ from the date of the NOP is reasonable and appropriate in certain circumstances when doing so results in a more accurate or informative environmental analysis. At the time the application for the proposed project was submitted to the City of Palo Alto and initial data collection for technical studies began, the existing buildings at the project site were vacant. From the mid-1950s to 2009, Beckman Coulter, Inc. used the site largely for manufacturing with office/research and development in the building that fronts on Page Mill Road. In 2009, Facebook subleased the entire property and the use converted largely to office. Later in November 2014, when the NOP for this Draft EIR was published, a portion of the existing buildings on site were occupied by Google and Nest Labs Inc. However, the buildings had been mostly vacant for at least a couple of years before the Google and Nest Labs leases were signed in late 2013 and early 2014 respectively. These leases ended in January From August 2014, Machine Zone Inc. has occupied Building 1 for office space. As a result, use of the existing space has varied over time. Based on historical usage and current square footage configurations, the following land use conditions are used to define the baseline land use conditions at the project site: 67.4% office space, 16.3% manufacturing space, and 16.3% research and development space. While an alternate baseline could have been selected for the analysis, these baseline assumptions are reasonable because they reflect historic use of the site and consideration of the fluctuations in tenancy. Also, the technical analyses that form the basis of the Draft EIR contain sufficient information to allow comparisons between expected conditions with the proposed project and past site conditions. Summary of Potentially Significant Impacts The Draft EIR identifies potentially significant environmental effects of the project in regards to five issues: Air Quality; Biological Resources; Hazards and Hazardous Materials; Noise; and Transportation and Traffic. The Draft EIR also analyzed impacts associated with Energy Consumption; however, these impacts were found to be less-than-significant and do not require mitigation. The following is a brief overview of each issue, the existing setting, the impacts that would result from the proposed project and the mitigation measures recommended in the EIR to lessen the project impacts. Air Quality The air quality chapter analyzes violations of the City s air quality standard, which is based on Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) criteria, due to project construction (including demolition). The proposed project is below the operational screening criteria size of 323,000 square feet for an office research park; as such, the project would have a less-than- City of Palo Alto Page 10

11 significant impact related to air quality during operation. While the emissions are anticipated to remain below the Bay Area Air Quality Management District thresholds, all projects are required to implement the District s standard construction emissions measures to minimize pollutant emissions. The EIR includes mitigation measures to ensure compliance with emission control measures during project construction consistent with BAAQMD s Bay Area 2010 Clean Air Plan. In addition to basic emissions control measures, daily use of construction equipment would be limited to 6, rather than 8, hours per day per piece of equipment and diesel particulate filters would be used on construction equipment. These measures would reduce the impact to less than significant. Biological Resources The biological resource concerns of the project relate to migratory birds and bats that could nest and/or forage onsite as well as the existing trees on-site and on adjacent properties. The project includes tree planting and the preparation of a Tree Protection and Preservation Plan in conformance with the City s tree protection ordinances. The EIR includes mitigation measures for pre-construction surveys be submitted to the City by a qualified biologist to determine if there are active bird nests, bat roosts, or bat maternal colonies on the project site. If an active nest is identified, the biologist shall consult with CDFW to determine if construction activities would affect the nest. If construction would disturb the special-status species, construction-free buffer zones will be established around the nest. This procedure would ensure that project construction would not disturb the reproductive behavior of special-status species. These measures would reduce the impact to less than significant. Hazards and Hazardous Materials The hazardous material concerns on the project include the on-site potential for release of hazardous materials during demolition and construction (i.e., asbestos, lead, contaminated soils). The project s use of hazard substances and wastes during construction is also analyzed. The effects of the contaminated ground-water plume that underlies the project site on indoor air quality within the proposed buildings is also evaluated. The EIR includes requirements for construction waste disposal and inspection by City staff. The mitigation requires the project applicant to consult with the City s Public Works Department and hazardous material consultants to amend the Soil Management Plan to address the presence of VOCs and TPH contamination. The mitigation also requires that an environmental specialist be retained to analyze the existing buildings for hazardous building materials prior to demolition, construction workers be familiarized with the Soil Management Plan, preparation of a scope of work for asbestos abatement, and the inspections and verifications by the City and BAAQMD. Workers involved in demolition will be required to comply with state and federal regulations related to LCM and ACM handling and disposal. The project applicant/construction contractor will prepare a dewatering plan and groundwater extraction design plans, which will be reviewed by the City s Public Works Department, to ensure proper testing and treatment of groundwater potentially impacted by VOCs. A waterproofing/vapor barrier membrane will be included in the building plans to prevent the migration of vapor from groundwater into the indoor air of the basement parking garage, and the project applicant shall sample VOC concentrations to ensure City of Palo Alto Page 11

12 VOC concentrations in the basement are below levels harmful to health. These measures would reduce the impact to less than significant. Noise Noise impacts associated with the project include exposing people to and generating noise levels beyond what is considered acceptable under City standards, including an increase in noise levels above those existing without the project. The EIR includes mitigation measures that set performance standards for the proposed buildings windows, walls, and rooftop mechanical equipment that would ensure protection of employees and nearby residents from adverse noise exposure making this a less than significant impact with mitigation. Transportation and Traffic The transportation impacts of the project include the addition of vehicle trips to intersections without adequate queue lengths. The transportation section also analyzes the addition of vehicle trips to existing intersections in the project vicinity but does not find significant decreases in level of service or significant increases in the V/C ratio. The provision of bicycle and vehicle parking onsite was reviewed for conformance with City policy. The transportation section also discusses the project s site access by vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians. The proposed project does not cause a significant impact to the level of service at any nearby intersections. However, the project does have significant impacts related to intersection queuing; mitigation is provided to ensure improvements are made to reduce these queues to less-than-significant levels. During operation, the project would have adequate emergency access; however, mitigation is provided for temporary impacts to emergency access, which could occur during construction. Mitigation measures require the project applicant to construct improvements and/or provide fair share allocation of funds necessary to construct improvements to intersections with adverse queuing impacts. The project includes adequate parking on-site for autos and bicycles. The project applicant will prepare a Construction Traffic Management Plan to address construction traffic and staging in order to maintain safety for roadway users and ensure emergency access to the project site. These measures would reduce the impact to less than significant. Significant and Unavoidable Impacts The analysis of the EIR concludes that the implementation of the proposed project would not result in any significant unavoidable impacts. The project would have potential significant air quality, biological resources, hazardous material, noise, and traffic impacts. However, the project includes mitigation that would reduce these impacts to less-than-significant level. Policy Implications The project is subject to ARB findings, which are expanded upon in Attachment A. Additionally, there are a number of Comprehensive Plan policies that should be considered when evaluating this project, including the following. More policies and analysis is provided in Attachment A. City of Palo Alto Page 12

13 Policy L-44: Develop the Stanford Research Park as a compact employment center served by a variety of transportation modes. Policy L-48: Promote high quality, creative design and site planning that is compatible with surrounding development and public spaces. Goal B-1: A thriving business environment that is compatible with Palo Alto s residential character and natural environment. While it could be argued that the project is out of keeping with other specific Comprehensive Plan goals and policies such as those below, the project is consistent with the applicable Comprehensive Plan land use designation and staff believes that it is on balance consistent with the Comprehensive Plan as a whole. Policy L-42: Encourage Employment Districts to develop in a way that encourages transit, pedestrian and bicycle travel and reduces the number of auto trips for daily errands. Policy L-43: Provide sidewalks, pedestrian paths, and connections to the citywide bikeway system within Employment Districts. Pursue opportunities to build sidewalks and paths in renovation and expansion projects. There are at least two larger policy issues that are likely to be of interest with regard to this project. These involve the conversion from research and development to office space, which the City Council has expressed an interest in examining in an effort to ensure the Research Park as a whole does not lose its research and development focus. Both research and development and office space are permitted uses on the site, and staff expects the discussion of this issue to occur in the context of the Comprehensive Plan Update, along with a discussion of ways to effectively address vehicle trips to/from the Research Park via effective transportation demand management (TDM) programs, including transit (shuttle) and parking management strategies. Public Outreach Notice of this public hearing was provided by publication of the agenda in a local newspaper of general circulation. In addition, property owners and utility customers within 600 feet of the project site were mailed a notice card. Timeline Preliminary ARB meeting December 5, 2013 Formal Application submitted March 3, 2014 EIR scoping meeting before the ARB November 20, 2014 Release of the Draft EIR for the 45 day public comment period July 24, 2015 ARB meeting recommendation on AR July 30, 2015 PTC meeting on Draft EIR August 12, 2015 First PTC meeting on Final EIR November 18, 2015 PTC meeting on Final EIR December 9, 2015 Final EIR Certification by City Council January 11, 2015 City of Palo Alto Page 13

14 Final Decision on the Proposed Project by City Council January 11, 2015 Attachments: Attachment22.a: Attachment A: Record of Land Use Action (DOCX) Attachment22.b: Attachment B: Comprehensive Plan Table (DOCX) Attachment22.c: Attachment C: Zoning Comparison Table (DOC) Attachment22.d: Attachment D: Applicant's Project Description (PDF) Attachment22.e: Attachment E: Applicant response to public comments (PDF) Attachment22.f: Attachment F: Stanford response to public comments (PDF) Attachment22.g: Attachment G: Environmental Impact Report (paper copies to Councilmembers only) (PDF) Attachment22.h: Attachment H: CEQA Statement of Findings (DOC) Attachment22.i: Attachment I: Draft Mitigation Monitoring Program (DOCX) Attachment22.j: Attachment J: Project Plans (hardcopies to Councilmembers and Libraries only) (DOCX) City of Palo Alto Page 14