(1)AR 011008 EIR for SBVEZ - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF COLTON For the City Council Meeting of January 10, 2008 TO: Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers FROM: Candace E. Cassel, Economic Development Director SUBJECT: Consideration for Approval of Resolution R-01-08 Certifying the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the City of Colton Portion of the San Bernardino Valley Enterprise Zone. DATE: November 29, 2007 BACKGROUND On August 15, 2006, The City Council approved submittal of a multi -jurisdictional application to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for the designation of the San Bernardino Valley Enterprise Zone (SBVEZ), along with a Memorandum of Understanding among the City of Colton, City of San Bernardino, County of San Bernardino and IVDA as parties to the SBVEZ application setting forth the duties and responsibilities for each jurisdiction. Additionally, a budget adjustment was approved to fund the City's participation in the Enterprise Zone. The multi jurisdictional enterprise zone application was completed and conditional zone designation approval was received on January 10, 2007 establishing the zone effective retroactively to October 15, 2006, subject to four conditions of approval. Three of the four conditions have been met and included to 1) prepare a local incentive plan; 2) prepare an administrative processing plan; and 3) elaborate on the submitted marketing plan to ensure its cohesiveness with all participating jurisdictions. The fourth and final condition required compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), by the County of San Bernardino and the Cities of Colton and San Bernardino. IVDA's project area lying within the SBVEZ was covered under the CEQA process by the County and the two Cities. Consultation with HCD determined that the County and City of San Bernardino could utilize their respective, recently adopted General Plan Program EIR's. Because the update to the land use element of the City of Colton's General Plan is in process but not finalized, the City of Colton was required to have an EIR completed. Two extensions were requested and received in order for all the conditions of approval of the zone designation to be met, the second of which was to accommodate completion of the EIR for Colton's 5,698 acres (Project Area) in the SBVEZ. DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS In accordance with California Community Redevelopment Law (CRL), CEQA and the State CEQA Statutes and Guidelines, 1990, pursuant to Section 21151, a Program (EIR) was prepared for the Project Area by Tom Dodson & Associates. The Notice of Preparation (NOP) was issued on October 9, 2007. In response to the NOP, seven letters commenting on the proposed project were received. Because this project does not propose any specific projects, RAAdministration\Meetings\2008 Meetings\January 10, 2008 Special Meeting\Certification of Draft PIER for SBVEZ Staff Report 011008