PC 2006-21 - Laserfiche WebLink

Traffic - At two street intersections in the City, no feasible mitigation measures are identified that can fully reduce the cumulative traffic level of service impacts to ales-than-significant level. At these intersections, the Project would contribute to unmitigatable impacts. Required Statement of Overriding Considerations The City will mitigate the impacts described above to the extent feasible (see previous section). However, these measures will not reduce the above impacts to less-than- significantlevels. The City has examined reasonable project alternatives, including the proposed Project. The City has found that the alternatives to the Project would not achieve the core project objectives or would not reduce the significant and unavoidable impacts identified for the Project. Each alternative is discussed briefly above. The City has decided to implement the proposed Project. In preparing this statement of overriding considerations, the City has balanced the benefits of the Project against its unavoidable environmental impacts. Although implementation of the Project would result in significant and unavoidable impacts related to the cumulative loss of agriculture, and traffic levels at certain street intersections, the City finds that the benefits of the Project to the community are overriding considerations when weighed against the environmental impacts listed above. Adoption of the proposed Project will allow the following community goals to be achieved, and, thus, the City finds that the potential impacts outweigh the environmental risks of the Project: 1. Provide numerous opportunities for expanding the City's cultural resources by potentially developing facilities to accommodate art classrooms, an art gallery, rehearsal space, and theaters, all intended for a variety of art related uses; which uses will be located near the Downtown and contribute to the Downtown's continuing economic revitalization. 2. Expand educational resources in the community through the development of educational programs for people of all ages relating to the Native American history of the site, the ecological nature of the site and region, agricultural prac- tices, sustainability practices, and a wide range of other educational programs. 3. Provide a wide range of active and passive recreational facilities, including lighted sports fields, picnic grounds, small children play areas, trails, gardens, and open space. 4. Preserve areas of Native American heritage through an extensive open space and landscape planting concept. Bernal Property Phase II Specific Plan and Bernal Community Park Master Plan Environmental Impact Report Findings and Statement of Overriding Considerations Page 23 of 24