8/8/2019 Del Mares Comment

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City of Del MarStaff Report

TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members

FROM: Adam Birnbaum, Planning Manager

Via Karen P. Brust, City Manager

DATE: November 8, 2010SUBJECT: Draft of Citys Comment Letter in Response to the Interstate 5 North Coast

Corridor Project draft EIR/EIS.

REQUESTED ACTION/RECOMMENDATION:

Review draft letter and direct that it be sent to Caltrans under the Mayors signature, withmodifications as deemed appropriate by the Council.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

This item involves a recommendation on a letter to be sent to Caltrans in response to thedraft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (draft EIR/EIS) forthe Interstate 5 North Coast Corridor Project. The draft letter was prepared by theFairgrounds Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee and staff. The letter identifies a variety ofconcerns about the project and calls for Caltrans to revise and re-circulate the draftEIR/EIS.

DISCUSSION:

The North Coast Corridor Project is a 27-mile long proposal along the northern San Diegosegment of Interstate 5. It is being proposed by Caltrans as a means to addressanticipated population growth in the region and to reduce traffic congestion and trip timeson the freeway. The project involves expanding the overall number of travel lanes anddevoting more of the expanded freeway width to High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) andManaged Lanes. Other project components include pedestrian- and bicycle-flowimprovements and the installation of sound-attenuation walls.

A draft EIR/EIS document on the project was released on July 2, 2010. The Councilreceived a briefing on the proposal from Caltrans at its August 2, 2010 meeting. At thattime, the Council directed staff to prepare a letter of response for Council consideration.The Council also asked that staff be assisted by members of the Fairgrounds Master PlanAd-Hoc Committee. This request was made based on the Committees [then] recentexperience with reviewing the environmental document for another significant project inthe region (the Fairgrounds Master Plan EIR) and also on the limited timeframe available

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City Council Action:

8/8/2019 Del Mares Comment

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City Council Staff ReportRegarding: Letter of Response to the Interstate 5North Coast Corridor Draft EIR/EISNovember 8, 2010Page 2 of 2

for the City to prepare and submit a response letter. The original deadline date forcomments was October 7, 2010 but has been extended by 45 days to end on November22, 2010.

After numerous public meetings, the Fairgrounds Master Plan Ad-Hoc AdvisoryCommittee voted on Thursday, October 21, 2010, to approve a draft comment letter andto recommend that the City Council approve and submit the letter to Caltrans and theother agencies involved with preparation of the draft EIR/EIS. The draft letter is containedin Attachment A. It was prepared based on input from the members of the Committee,from members of the public who attended the Ad-Hoc Committee meetings and from theAd-Hoc Committees Council liaisons, Crystal Crawford and Carl Hilliard.

The draft comment letter focuses on the following issues:

1. Concerns that the project places too much of an emphasis on freewayimprovements to move people and goods in the North Coast Corridorrather than using public resources for mass transit projects. Also, concernsabout the use of huge amounts of public funds on a project that may notachieve its own goals;

2. The inadequacy of the project description;3. The lack of inclusion or analysis of alternatives, again with emphasis on

exploring mass transit improvements;4. Potential impacts on the San Dieguito River and Lagoon and on the San

Dieguito Lagoon Restoration Project;5. Impacts of freeway widening on the local feeder roads that lead to and from

the freeway interchanges in the Del Mar area;6. Management of truck traffic and possible truck-traffic alternatives;7. The failure of the draft EIR/EIS to include and address the cumulative

impacts of other projects in the area;8. Potential irreversible changes, especially with regard to reliance on vehicles

and the impacts of Greenhouse Gas emissions;9. Impacts on water quality;10.Incomplete analyses of noise, air-quality and noise impacts, along with the

need for exploration of sound attenuation alternatives; and11.Visual Impacts and Aesthetics

The Ad-Hoc Committee Chair will be in attendance at the City Council meeting to answerquestions about the Committees work. Staff will also be at the meeting to provide abriefing on their work in reviewing the draft EIR/EIS and compiling the letter itself.

Attachment A - Draft letter