Board Staff Report - Planning and Environmental Review

COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO
CALIFORNIA
For the Agenda of:
May 28, 2014
Timed: 2:45 p.m.
To:
Board of Supervisors
From:
Department of Community Development
Subject:
PLNP2013-00122. General Plan Amendments Related To The Capital
Southeast Connector. Request For Modifications To The Circulation Element,
Transportation Plan And Bikeway Master Plan To Provide The Policies Needed
For The Connector Project. Applicant: Capital Southeast Connector Joint
Powers Authority And Sacramento County Department Of Community
Development; APN: Various; Environmental Document: Prior Environmental
Impact Report Prepared By The Connector JPA.
Supervisorial
District(s):
Contact:
MacGlashan, Nottoli
Cindy Storelli, Principal Planner, (916) 874-5345
Michael Winter, Senior Planner, (916) 874-5849
Overview
The Board of Supervisors first heard this project at the March 11, 2014 hearing. After
discussion and public testimony, the Board continued the item to allow further consideration of
issues that were raised during the hearing, including addressing concerns related to maintaining
County control over the project, future public outreach, and project design issues such as access
for agricultural interests and multi-modal trails. After meeting internally, and with
stakeholders, the proposed project and the findings have been modified to better address the
concerns. The resolution attached to this report includes the General Plan amendment for the
Delta Protection Element item, as both amendments must be adopted together for the first round
of General Plan amendments for this year.
Recommendation
1. Acting as a CEQA Responsible Agency, consider the information in the attached Certified
Final Program Environmental Impact Report for the Capital Southeast Connector Project
(Attachment 1) and acknowledge that the contents of the Final PEIR have been considered.
Additionally, adopt the findings of fact and statement of overriding considerations
(Attachment 2); prepared by the Capital Southeast Connector Joint Powers Authority;
2. Adopt the attached Resolution Amending the General Plan and Repealing Board Resolution
No. 96-1083;
3. Adopt both the applicable mitigation measures contained within the Final PEIR prepared by
the Capital Southeast Connector Joint Powers Authority, and the JPA’s “Mitigation
Monitoring and Reporting Program for the Connector Project” (Attachment 3), limited to
those measures which mitigate or avoid the direct or indirect environmental effects of those
parts of the project which the County decides to carry out, finance or approve; and
4. Direct County staff to continue to work with JPA staff.
PLNP2013-00122. General Plan Amendments Related To The Capital Southeast Connector.
Request For Modifications To The Circulation Element, Transportation Plan And Bikeway
Master Plan To Provide The Policies Needed For The Connector Project. Applicant: Capital
Southeast Connector Joint Powers Authority And Sacramento County Department Of
Community Development; APN: Various; Environmental Document: Prior Environmental
Impact Report Prepared By The Connector JPA.
Page 2
Measures/Evaluation
The General Plan amendments provide for the Capitol Southeast Connector to be consistent
with the Sacramento County General Plan.
Fiscal Impact
As co-applicants, the County’s share of the cost of processing the application is included in the
2013-14 annual budget.
BACKGROUND
The Capital SouthEast Connector (Connector) project has been in progress since 2006 when the
Connector Joint Powers Authority (JPA) was established by the jurisdictions along the general
alignment. On March 11, 2014 the Board of Supervisors first heard the proposed General Plan
amendments related to the Connector. Several questions and concerns were raised by Board
members and the public during that hearing. The Board opted to continue the hearing to April 9,
2014 to allow time for stakeholder meetings with County and JPA staff to determine solutions to
the concerns. Prior to that meeting the project was again continued to today’s date to allow for
the stakeholder meetings.
Amendments to the Connector JPA Agreement. Independent of the General Plan Amendment
process, the County has been processing amendments to the Connector Joint Powers Authority
agreement. Three changes are proposed:
1.
Prior to executing their power of eminent domain on land in the unincorporated county, the
Connector JPA Board must receive concurrence from the County Board of Supervisors.
2.
The County can withdraw from the Connector JPA agreement with a 10-day notice, if the
County has no outstanding financial obligation to the Connector JPA.
3.
Prior to imposing any financial obligation on the County, the Connector JPA must have
agreement from the County Board of Supervisors.
These JPA agreement amendments are scheduled to be heard as a County Department of
Transportation item prior to today’s General Plan Amendment hearing. The JPA agreement
amendments have already been approved by other participating jurisdictions.
DISCUSSION
On March 11, 2014, the Board of Supervisors held the first hearing on the subject General Plan
Amendments. After Board discussion and public testimony, the Board continued the project to
allow stakeholder meetings to consider specific issues.
Stakeholder Meetings. County and JPA staff met with stakeholders on March 28, April 11 and
April 24, 2014 to discuss the concerns of the stakeholders and to consider how to resolve them.
In attendance were Supervisors Nottoli and MacGlashan, Assemblyman Ken Cooley, Connector
JPA representatives, landowners, representatives for landowners, members of the Cosumnes
CPAC, the Farm Bureau and the Pacific Legal Foundation. County agencies represented were
the Chief Deputy County Executive, County Counsel, Department of Community Development
PLNP2013-00122. General Plan Amendments Related To The Capital Southeast Connector.
Request For Modifications To The Circulation Element, Transportation Plan And Bikeway
Master Plan To Provide The Policies Needed For The Connector Project. Applicant: Capital
Southeast Connector Joint Powers Authority And Sacramento County Department Of
Community Development; APN: Various; Environmental Document: Prior Environmental
Impact Report Prepared By The Connector JPA.
Page 3
and Department of Transportation. The minutes for the April 11, 2014 meeting are provided as
Attachment 4. The results of these and other meetings will be forwarded by JPA staff to the
Connector JPA Board for informational purposes.
Issues and Responses. The following reflects the primary issues raised during the prior Board
hearing and the stakeholder meetings.
•
Access Concerns. Agricultural interests want assurance that they will be able to move
farm equipment and products in an efficient and timely manner along the proposed
Connector. Further, they are concerned about a de facto loss of development rights if
access is restricted to certain properties.
To address these specific issues, Connector JPA staff agreed to meet with landowners
within 1,000 feet of the Connector alignment to discuss specific access needs and
solutions. Two meetings are scheduled for May 2014 that will focus on Connector
Segments A and B. Two additional meetings are scheduled for June to discuss Segment
D.
•
Need for General Plan Amendments. The current General Plan thoroughfare
designations for the Connector alignment would allow expansion up to six lanes. Some
stakeholders questioned the need for the General Plan Amendments at all.
The General Plan Circulation Element defines the circulation network that will support
the mobility needs of both the existing land uses and the anticipated growth in land uses
as defined in the General Plan. Along the Connector roadway alignment, the current
General Plan Circulation Element proposes either a four-lane arterial or a six-lane
thoroughfare roadway, and the County currently has the ability to improve the roadways
along the Connector alignment consistent with the current roadway designations. This
General Plan Amendment to the Circulation Element will align the County’s General
Plan with the roadway designations as developed by the Connector JPA thus allowing for
future roadway improvements along the Connector alignment to be implemented
consistent with the vision set forth by the Connector JPA.
•
Loss of Representation in Land Use Decisions. The JPA agreement grants authority
for the JPA to act independent of the County as it relates to some planning and
construction aspects of the Connector. Concern was expressed that JPA decisions may
not represent the best interests of County residents.
The aforementioned inter-jurisdictional JPA agreement amendment will allow the County
to withdraw from the process at any time, with a 10-day notice. This addresses the
stakeholder’s concerns, in part, by allowing the County Board of Supervisors, who
represent unincorporated residents, to exercise appropriate control over land use
decisions, if needed.
•
Power of Eminent Domain by the JPA. There is a general concern that the County will
not have control over the use of the power of eminent domain by the Connector JPA.
There is a particular concern that eminent domain would be used to secure mitigation
land and for the multimodal path.
PLNP2013-00122. General Plan Amendments Related To The Capital Southeast Connector.
Request For Modifications To The Circulation Element, Transportation Plan And Bikeway
Master Plan To Provide The Policies Needed For The Connector Project. Applicant: Capital
Southeast Connector Joint Powers Authority And Sacramento County Department Of
Community Development; APN: Various; Environmental Document: Prior Environmental
Impact Report Prepared By The Connector JPA.
Page 4
The JPA staff have provided assurance that eminent domain would only be used for
necessary roadway right-of-way needs and not mitigation. Mitigation purchases are
willing buyer-willing seller. JPA staff will take this statement forward to the JPA Board
for confirmation and approval. Note that with the recent JPA Agreement amendments,
County approval is required prior to any condemnation in the unincorporated county by
the JPA Board. Additionally, the multi-modal path will be part of the overall right-ofway.
Discussion also occurred regarding the possibility that the Connector might mitigate via
the pending South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan (SSHCP). This is a fact as the
JPA is a partner in the SSHCP. While not yet completed or adopted, the SSHPC is also
being developed under a willing seller-willing buyer approach.
•
ECOS Settlement Agreement. The Connector JPA Board agreed to settle a CEQArelated lawsuit out of court. The related Settlement Agreement obligates the JPA to
establish an MOU with SACOG that would provide funding for an inventory of possible
mitigation lands in the South County. This inventory could be used by various entities,
including the South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan (SSHCP), for identifying land
to use for mitigating future habitat impacts.
The stakeholders expressed multiple concerns including 1) that the County is bound to
the Settlement Agreement (it is referenced in the JPA Design Guidelines); 2) the
documents (MOU and inventory) required by the Settlement agreement are not currently
available for review; 3) the required mitigation inventory will affect private property
rights if previously undiscovered resources are revealed; and 4) the use of Measure A
funds to support the SSHCP is inappropriate.
In response, County Counsel has studied the Settlement Agreement and opined that it
does not obligate the County in any way. When the Design Guidelines are updated, the
Connector JPA staff will include removing a reference to the Settlement Agreement. The
JPA staff is actively working with SACOG on an MOU for funding to prepare the
mitigation inventory and will share that document with stakeholders prior to the next JPA
Board meeting where it will be discussed. JPA staff noted that the mitigation inventory
will only use existing biological data, will not involve additional resource surveys and
will not be parcel-specific. It was also clarified that the funds provided to SACOG under
the Settlement Agreement fund only a portion of the mitigation inventory, a document
that SACOG was planning to prepare prior to the Settlement Agreement.
•
Expansion of Multi-purpose trail system. Some stakeholders are concerned that the
proposed expansion of the multi-purpose trails may adversely impact agricultural
operations and residences.
The existing Bikeway Master Plan designations for the Connector alignment allow for
bike paths along its entire length. The Connector General Plan amendments would
maintain the same bikeway connectivity, but would upgrade significant portions to a
Class I bikeway with a multimodal path. Bikeways and the multi-path trails are defined
PLNP2013-00122. General Plan Amendments Related To The Capital Southeast Connector.
Request For Modifications To The Circulation Element, Transportation Plan And Bikeway
Master Plan To Provide The Policies Needed For The Connector Project. Applicant: Capital
Southeast Connector Joint Powers Authority And Sacramento County Department Of
Community Development; APN: Various; Environmental Document: Prior Environmental
Impact Report Prepared By The Connector JPA.
Page 5
as being within the Connector ROW and would not extend beyond the ROW into the
agricultural areas. See the Exhibit C of the attached Resolution for details.
Revisions to the proposed General Plan Amendments. Much of the response to the stakeholder
concerns relates to the details of the Connector Project and will be addressed by Connector JPA
staff through subsequent meetings and proposed actions by the Connector JPA Board.
In response to the stakeholder meetings the General Plan Amendments under consideration
would be modified as follows:
1.
Circulation Element Policy CI-7 (strikeout/bold format). The initial proposed modification
to CI-7 acknowledged that the Capital SouthEast Connector Design Guidelines apply to the
Connector alignment as designated on the Transportation Plan Map. It has since been
modified to clarify that the County maintains control over access to the roadway within the
unincorporated county.
CI-7. Plan and construct transportation facilities as delineated on the Transportation Plan
of the Sacramento County General Plan. Transportation facilities shall be consistent
with the Sacramento County, Municipal Services Agency Improvement Standards
and Construction Specifications, the Connector Project Design Guidelines, and
supplemented by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) design
standards. The County may deviate from the adopted County Improvement
Standards and Construction Specifications in circumstances where conditions
warrant special treatment. The Capital SouthEast Connector, as designated in
the Transportation Plan map, shall be consistent with the most current JPAapproved “Capital SouthEast Connector JPA Project Design Guidelines,”
provided that the Project Design Guidelines will not be applied to diminish or
alter the rights of County-approved projects and provided that the design
exception process within the Project Design Guidelines is not amended to
diminish the County’s land use authority to approve future projects proximate
to or its authority to determine access to the Capital SouthEast Connector.
The Capital SouthEast Connector is intended to serve the transportation
demand for both existing land uses and future growth within the Urban
Services Boundary (USB). The County reserves all of its rights and powers to
assure that sufficient access to and from the Connector roadway is available to
accommodate the existing land uses as well as the future growth within the
USB. For areas of the unincorporated County outside of the USB, the County
will limit access to and from the Connector roadway to only accommodate the
existing and future land uses permitted outside of the USB.
2.
Modifications to Circulation Element Text. In response to discussions, the phrase
“productive agricultural uses” was changed to “production agriculture”. (See page 12 of
Circulation Element, last bullet.)
3.
Modifications to the Board Resolution. In addition, in response to stakeholder concerns,
the following findings have been added to the Board Resolution as related to the Connector
Project:
PLNP2013-00122. General Plan Amendments Related To The Capital Southeast Connector.
Request For Modifications To The Circulation Element, Transportation Plan And Bikeway
Master Plan To Provide The Policies Needed For The Connector Project. Applicant: Capital
Southeast Connector Joint Powers Authority And Sacramento County Department Of
Community Development; APN: Various; Environmental Document: Prior Environmental
Impact Report Prepared By The Connector JPA.
Page 6
“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that, to address concerns raised by agricultural users,
the Board of Supervisors finds that this General Plan Amendment is subject to the
following findings:
1.
The Objectives of the Connector Project, as set forth in the Program EIR, include
the preservation of production agriculture uses. The Connector Project will
include design features intended to minimize encroachment on natural and
agricultural resources, and support and protect the regional need to transport
agricultural products and ancillary agricultural operations and to move
agricultural equipment. Such support and protection of agriculture and the
efficient access of agricultural products and equipment to existing and planned
transportation facilities, including the Connector Project, is a high priority of the
County.
2.
The Capital SouthEast Connector JPA has adopted an agricultural outreach
process to solicit early input on design and access issues to reduce the Connector
Project’s impact on agricultural uses, practices and productivity. Responsiveness
of the Connector JPA to the results of the outreach process is of high importance
to the County.
3.
The ECOS settlement with the Connector JPA is not binding on the County of
Sacramento, as the County was not a party to the settlement agreement. The
County’s final authority to approve access and land use proximate to the Capital
SouthEast Connector in the future is unaffected by the settlement agreement.
4.
The County retains all land use authority over the Capital SouthEast Connector,
including the ability to determine access to and land uses surrounding the
roadway. Under the Connector JPA’s Project Design Guidelines, the County
shall notify and consult with the Connector JPA on the future proposed access to
the Capital SouthEast Connector, but the County has final authority over access to
and land uses proximate to the Connector in unincorporated Sacramento County.”
CONCLUSION
While additional stakeholder meetings will continue to occur to address many of the issues
touched upon in this report, the wording of CI-7 and other text in the Circulation Element, and
the findings in the General Plan resolution have been modified to provide assurances to the
stakeholders that their concerns will continue to be discussed after the General Plan amendment
process has concluded. In addition to approving the General Plan amendments, staff is asking
the Board to direct staff to continue working with the JPA staff. The attached resolution amends
the General Plan for this project as well as for the Delta Protection Element. Both sets of
General Plan amendments are adopted concurrently with one resolution as part of the first
hearing round of 2014.
PLNP2013-00122. General Plan Amendments Related To The Capital Southeast Connector.
Request For Modifications To The Circulation Element, Transportation Plan And Bikeway
Master Plan To Provide The Policies Needed For The Connector Project. Applicant: Capital
Southeast Connector Joint Powers Authority And Sacramento County Department Of
Community Development; APN: Various; Environmental Document: Prior Environmental
Impact Report Prepared By The Connector JPA.
Page 7
MEASURES/EVALUATION
The General Plan Amendments provide for the Capitol Southeast Connector to be consistent
with the Sacramento County General Plan.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
As co-applicants, the County’s share of the cost of processing the application is included in the
2013-14 annual budget.
Respectfully submitted,
APPROVED:
BRADLEY J. HUDSON
County Executive
__________________________________
LORI A. MOSS, Director
Department of Community Development
BY: ________________________________
ROBERT B. LEONARD
Chief Deputy County Executive
Attachments:
RES - Resolution Amending the General Plan and Repealing Board Resolution No. 96-1083
RES EXH A - Transportation Plan Map 5-28-14
RES EXH B - Circulation Element Clean Copy 5-28-14
RES EXH C - Bikeway Master Plan Maps 5-28-14
RES EXH D - Delta Protection Element 5-28-14
RES EXH E - Open Space Element 5-28-14
ATT 1 - Capital Southeast Connector Final Program Environmental Impact Report (Link only:
http://www.connectorjpa.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Capital-SEC-V2-Final-PEIRRevised-Draft.pdf )
ATT 2 - Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations (Environmental
Documentation for General Plan Amendments Memo)
ATT 3 - Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the Connector Project (Link only:
http://www.connectorjpa.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Connector-JPA-MMRP.pdf )
ATT 4 - Minutes of Stakeholder Meeting April 11, 2014

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