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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 387-10CITY OF PALO ALTO Memorandum TO: HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM: City Manager DATE: October 25, 201 0 10 October 21,2010 DEPARTMENT: Planning and Community Environment CMR: 387:10 SUBJECT: Certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Proposed 405 Lincoln Avenue Single Family Residential Replacement Project; Approval of Demolition Delay and Approval of a Record of Land . Use Action in Conjunction with a Request for a Demolition Permit for the Existing Residence at 405 Lincoln Avenue, which is listed as a Contributing Structure in the Professorville National Register Historic District and a contributing resource to the Professorville Historic District Attached is a Record of Land Use Action for Council approval. This item is provided under separate cover in your packet. Community Environment Attachment: Record of Land Use Action I ACTION NO. 2010- RECORD OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO LAND USE ACTION FOR THE PROPOSED 405 LINCOLN AVENUE SINGLE-FAMILY REPLACEMENT PROJECT (MICHELLE ARDEN AND ALLEN AKIN APPLICANTS) On October 25, 2010, the Council of the City of Palo Alto certified the Final Environmental Impact Report for the Proposed 405 Lincoln Avenue Single Family-Residential Replacement Project, making the following findings, determination and declarations: SECTION 1. Background. The City Council of the City of Palo Alto ("City Council") finds, determines, and declares as follows: A. The owners of a single-family residential property at 405 Lincoln Avenue, with the City's Professorville Historic District have submitted an application to permit demolition of the existing single-story residential structure and construction of a new two-story residence. ("The Project"). B. Professorville is an exclusively residential district that occupies approximately nine city blocks, approximately three blocks from downtown Palo Alto. A six-block portion of the district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Professorville National Register Historic District. The six. block National Register district plus an additional three adjacent blocks are also designated in the Professorville Historic District in the City's Historic Inventory. C. The main residential building proposed for demolition is a stucco Spanish Colonial Revival style residence constructed circa 1923. The building is listed in the National Register as "a contributing building to the National Register district." D. The City, as lead agency, prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Report ("DEIR") for the Project. The DEIR was made available for public review beginning july 27, 2010 through September 17,2010. E. The Historic Resources Board held a public hearing on the ("DEIR") on September!, 2010 and recommended certification of the EIR at its meeting of October 6, 2010. F. The Final Environmental Impact Report ("FEIR") incorporates responses to comments and text changes to clarify the findings of the DEIR. SECTION 2. Certification. Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15090, the City Council hereby fmds that the FEIR has been completed in compliance with CEQA, has been presented to the City Council for its review and consideration and reflects the independent judgment of the City, and therefore recommends certification of the FEIR. SECTION 3. Recommendation. The City Council hereby adopts the Findings with respect to the significant effects on the environment of the Project as identified in the FIER, with 1 101020 sh 0111546 the stipulation that all information in these Findings is intended as a summary of the full administrative record supporting the Project, which full administrative record should be consulted for the full details supporting these Findings, and that any mitigation measures and/or alternatives that were suggested by a commenter to the DEIR and were not adopted as part of the FEIR are hereby expressly rejected for the reasons stated in the responses to the comments set forth in the FEIR and elsewhere in the record. SECTION 4. Findings. The City Council hereby finds that the environmental impact has been reduced to a level of less than significant due to incorporation of mitigation measures requiring a design that is compatible with the Professorville Historic District. The residential building at 405 Lincoln does not independently meet the definition of "historical resource" included in CEQA Guidelines section 15064.5 (a). The current structure is a contributing structure only. The demolition of the structure does not equate to the demolition of the district, and will not materially alter, in an adverse manner, those characteristics that justify the District's inclusion in the National Register of Historical Places, California Register of Historical Resources, or City of Palo Alto Historic Resources Inventory. The City Council rejects the environmentally superior alternative as it does not meet the project objectives as listed at Section 3.2 of the DEIR. The new structure must meet the Secretary of the Interior Standards for the treatment of Historic Properties for new construction. SECTION 5. Demolition Delay. The City Council hereby finds that the moratorium on demolition required pursuant to Section 16.49.070 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code will be satisfied by an additional delay of 60 (sixty) days, this time period shall not start to run until after issuance of a building permit for the replacement structure. SECTION 6. Replacement Structure. The replacement structure shall consist of a two story residence. The replacement structure shall be compatible with the Professorville neighborhood and shall comply with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for the treatment of Historical Properties. SECTION 7. Conditions of Approval. The project applicant shall submit a design to the Director of Planning that is compatible with the surrounding Professorville District and complies with the mitigation measures found in the DEIR. 1. To the extent permitted by law, the project applicant shall indemnify and hold harmless the City, its City Council, its officers, employees and agents (the "indemnified parties") from and against any claim, action, or proceeding brought by a third party against the indemnified parties and the applicant to attack, set aside, or void this Record of Land Use Action or any permit or approval authorized hereby for the project, including (without limitation) II II II 2 101020 sh 0111546 J reimbursing the City its actual attorneys fees and costs incurred in defense of the litigation. The City may, in its sole discretion, elect to defend any such action with attorneys of its choice. INTRODUCED AND PASSED: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTENTIONS: ATTEST: City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: City Attorney 101020 sh 0111546 Director of Planning and Community Environment 3