HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Resolution 14982 (Transit Center Relocation Draft Environmental Impact Report)RESOLUTION NO. 14982
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL
APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN A LETTER TO THE
GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, HIGHWAY & TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT
SUMMARIZING CITY COMMENTS ON THE SAN RAFAEL TRANSIT CENTER
RELOCATION PROJECT (SRTC) DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT
(DEIR); FILE P21-012
WHEREAS, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District (District)
owns, operates and maintains the San Rafael Transit Center (SRTC), which is located at
850 Tamalpais Avenue in the City of San Rafael; and
WHEREAS, Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) has received funding and
has completed the second phase of commuter rail service to Larkspur. This second phase
extension actively uses the rail line and right-of-way which bisects the SRTC site, which
significantly impacts the SRTC use; and
WHEREAS, commencing in 2014, the District, in collaboration with the City, began
studying interim and permanent solutions for the SRTC. In 2017, the District hired a
transportation engineering consultant to develop preliminary designs and supportive
studies for relocation of the SRTC; and
WHEREAS, as the ultimate relocation of the SRTC is critical to the planning for
Downtown San Rafael, in 2017 the District and City entered into a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU), to establish the respective roles of the two agencies and the
process for the relocation project. The MOU confirms that the City will serve as a
“Responsible Agency” for the purposes of environmental review of the relocation project
under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); and
WHEREAS, consistent with the CEQA Guidelines, the District published a Notice
of Preparation (NOP) to solicit comments on the scope of topic areas to be studied in the
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for this project. As a Responsible Agency,
the City commented on the NOP as summarized in a report to the City Council dated
November 5, 2018; and
WHEREAS, consistent with the CEQA Guidelines, the District published a Notice
of Availability on August 11, 2021, provided notification of publication of a Draft EIR on
the SRTC replacement project and providing a 60-day public review and comment period;
and
WHEREAS, as a Responsible Agency, the City must independently review and
comment on the Draft EIR. City staff has reviewed the Draft EIR and prepared a list of
comments with recommended clarifications, modifications and additional analysis to be
included in the EIR. These comments have been included in the report to the City Council
as Attachment B; and
WHEREAS, at a regular City Council meeting held on October 4, 2021, the report
to the City Council, inclusive of attached Draft Comments on the SRTC Draft EIR, was
presented. At this meeting, public comment was accepted, and the City Council discussed
the report findings and recommendations;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council (1) finds and
determines that the SRTC project Draft EIR is fundamentally and basically inadequate;
(2) the Draft EIR must be corrected to cure its inadequacies and then recirculate the
revised Draft EIR; and (3) hereby authorizes the Mayor to sign, on behalf of the City
Council, a letter to the District summarizing City comments on the SRTC project Draft EIR
as set forth in Attachment B to the staff report for this resolution.
I, Lindsay Lara, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing
Resolution was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the
San Rafael City Council held on the 4th day of October 2021 by the following vote to wit:
AYES: Councilmembers: Bushey, Hill, Kertz, Llorens Gulati & Mayor Kate
NOES: Councilmembers: None
ABSENT: Councilmembers: None
LINDSAY LARA, City Clerk