Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Southeast Greenway General Plan Amendment and Rezoning Project

The Southeast Greenway Area is comprised of 57-acres of land that follow a 1.9 mile long path from Farmers Lane and Highway 12 to Spring Lake Regional Park located in southeast Santa Rosa. The proposed project constitutes a General Plan and Zoning amendment to allow for future development of parks and recreation land uses including open space, school facilities, community gathering space, neighborhood retail/commercial, and housing within the project site; no construction is proposed. The proposed project includes a Land Use Concept that frames the type and scale of development on the project site and a Circulation Concept that structures multi-modal paths, crossings, and connections throughout the project site. The proposed policies that provide a framework for future development on the project area by 2035 are organized into three categories; Public Service and Facility, Land Use, and Circulation. The maximum potential development under the proposed project would consist of up to 244 housing units, up to 12,000 square feet of commercial space, and 47.2 acres of open space.

The Draft EIR prepared for the project identifies less than significant effects in the following categories: Aesthetics, Geology and Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Hydrology and Water Quality, Land Use and Planning, Noise, Population and Housing, Public Services and Recreation, and Utilities and Service Systems. The Draft EIR identifies potentially significant environmental effects that can be mitigated to a less than significant level in the following categories: Biological Resources, and Cultural and Tribal Cultural Resources. The Draft EIR identifies potential significant effects that are significant and unavoidable in the following categories: Air Quality, and Transportation and Circulation.  The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires this notice to disclose whether any listed hazardous materials sites are present at the location. As discussed in Chapter 4.7, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, of the Draft EIR, the Southeast Greenway Area does not contain hazardous waste sites. However, three locations adjacent to the Southeast Greenway Area are included in a list prepared under Government Code Section 65962.5.

The 45-day public review period for the Draft EIR will start on Monday, August 21, 2017 and end on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. Copies of the Draft EIR will be on file for public review as of Monday, August 21, 2017 at Santa Rosa City Hall (100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95404), in the Planning and Economic Development Department (Room 3) and the City Manager’s Office (Room 10) and the Sonoma County Library (211 E Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404), as well as the “Plan the Southeast Greenway” website at http://planthegreenway.com/. Comments on the Draft EIR are due no later than the close of the 45-day public review period at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. Please submit your written comments to the Planning and Economic Development Department (100 Santa Rosa Avenue Room 3, Santa Rosa, CA 95404) or email to Jessica Jones at [email protected] with “Southeast Greenway EIR” as the subject.

A public hearing to receive comments on the adequacy of the Draft EIR will be held before the Planning Commission on Thursday, September 14, 2017 at or after 4:00 p.m., in the City Council Chambers (100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95404).