(3)AR 121509 Environmental Addendum

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Staff Report to the Mayor and City Council Certification of Addendum to Agua Mansa Commerce Center Project EIR December 15, 2009 Page 4 The Addendum describes in detail the traffic growth calculation methodology, including how the projected Project traffic was incorporated. The methodology used for the project's traffic analysis is the standard methodology required by SANBAG. In summary, the methodology used begins with existing traffic in 2007, adds Annual Growth per the East Valley Traffic Model ("EVTM") and finally adds Project traffic starting in Opening Year 2009. The combination of these three (3) components results in the estimated 2030 traffic volume. Court's Ruling: Third, the Court found that certain assumptions related to completion by another agency of traffic signal synchronization were uncertain and therefore could not be relied upon in determining the baseline for the Project. The Court found that, because the traffic signal synchronization could not be counted upon to establish the baseline traffic conditions, the EIR's description of the level of service at the affected intersections was inaccurate. Addendum: The Court expressed concern that, based on the City's response to comments, it appeared that SANBAG was still only preparing a Request for Proposal for Tier 4 of SANBAG's Valley Signal Synchronization Program, which would mean that Tier 4 was not funded or scheduled and could not be relied on in determining the Project's traffic baseline. SANBAG's Valley Signal Synchronization Program (also known as the SB Valley Coordinated Traffic Signal System Plan) is a strategic plan for interconnecting and coordinating traffic signals on major streets in the San Bernardino Valley area across several jurisdictional boundaries. Four (4) phases, or tiers, were recommended for implementation of the program. Tiers 1 and 2 have been completed. Tiers 3 is completely funded and scheduled and since the April 2008 date of the response to comments letter, Tier 4 has been fully funded and scheduled. The design contract for Tier 4 has been awarded, and the 11 - month design stage is in process. The Tier 4 construction will begin immediately after the design process and is scheduled for completion by December 2011. Consequently, the SANBAG Valley Signal Synchronization Program, Tier 4, as a funded and scheduled project, can be relied on in determining the Project's traffic baseline. Additionally, as the Court stated in the Ruling on page 11, lines 5-7, if the City could rely on future traffic projects, such as Tier 4, in determining the Project baseline, the description of the level of service at the intersections would be accurate. As illustrated above, the City can rely on the Tier 4 projects and, thus, the description of level of service in the EIR and associated traffic analysis are accurate. Court's Ruling: Finally, the Court found that, because of the above deficiencies in the EIR's traffic analysis, the estimate of the traffic generated by the Project was inaccurate, and as a result the mitigation measures proposed for the Project, particularly those requiring the payment of "fair share fees," were insufficient. Addendum: The Court stated in its Ruling that Rialto's claim of insufficient mitigation measures is a derivative of the claim that the estimate of the traffic generated by the Project was deficient. (These apparent deficiencies were a result of the High -Cube Warehouse square footage, traffic growth and signal synchronization issues discussed above.) The Court previously stated that since these traffic estimates are not supported by the administrative record, the mitigation measures were insufficient. However, the additional information and analysis in the Addendum now supports a fording that the traffic estimates are sufficient.