PC 102208 Special Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

through the planning process. He added that once the City had reported those changes to them, they included them in the EIR, did an assessment, and found none of them represented anything new in terms of a potential impact. Mr. Jeung continued that with respect to the public review, there were 23 different comments letters received; approximately 12 came from public agencies, 5 came from various organizations, and the balance from members of the public. He noted that there were a total of approximately 200 comments received. Mr. Jeung noted that it is their obligation to prepare responses to substantive comments regarding the EIR. He added that there were three different types of responses: the first includes those that clarify and explain information contained in the EIR, such as responses to questions from CalTrans and the City of Dublin asking for explanation regarding the potential extension of Stoneridge Drive through the project area and about potential intersection impacts to the cities of Dublin and Livermore. He stated that the second type of responses includes those that acknowledge opinions or preferences and project merits. He noted that many were received that supported the project, and they had supplied comments about specific things they would like for the project. He noted the third type of responses as those relating to corrections or amendments to the text, such as the information provided by Zone 7 about the proper name for the Las Positas widening. He noted that specific text changes were made for accuracy but did not change the analysis. Mr. Jeung stated that he believes the responses in the revisions confirm the analysis presented in the EIR and that the changes, comments, and responses did not result in substantive changes in terms of analysis, significant impact, and the mitigation measures that were warranted. Mr. Jeung stated that if the City agrees that the document satisfies the CEQA requirements, the City Council can take action to certify the document. He added that at that point, there is an opportunity to advance to deliberations on the project or a variation. He stated that he believes staff will recommend the Ice Center alternative, which was discussed in the EIR. He noted that the EIR identifies certain unavoidable impacts, and if the City elects to move forward with the project knowing there will be impacts, the City must issue a Statement of Overriding Considerations, which is a statement that says in weighing the significant impacts against the community benefits, it believes the benefits outweigh those impacts. Mr. Jeung added that as part of project approval, there is also a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program, which basically takes all mitigation measures identified in the EIR and specifies who is responsible for their implementation and when those measure should be implemented. He noted that the document basically PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, October 22, 2008 Page 5 of 13