Legislative Public Meetings

File #: 20-0640   
Type: Report to Council Status: Passed
Meeting Body: City Council
On agenda: 6/30/2020
Title: Adopt a Resolution Establishing Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) as the Threshold of Significance for Analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Adopt a Council Policy for Transportation Impact Analysis, and Find that the Action is Exempt from CEQA
Attachments: 1. Report to Planning Commission 20-0475, 6/22/20, 2. Draft Resolution, 3. Draft Council Policy 1.2.8 (Exhibit A to Draft Resolution), 4. Link to City's Transitioning to Vehicle Miles Traveled Webpage, 5. Link to SB 743, 6. Link to State's Technical Guide, 7. Congestion Management Program Requirements, 8. VMT Reference Materials, 9. Transit Supportive Projects Map, 10. VMT Baseline Pros and Cons Summary, 11. Residential VMT Heat Maps (See Corrected Attachment 11, posted 20200630), 12. Employment VMT Heat Maps Residential VMT Heat Maps (See Corrected Attachment 12, posted 20200630), 13. Project Examples for VMT Analysis, 14. Meeting Minutes from 10/8/19 City Council VMT Study Session, 15. Excerpt of Draft Minutes of the Planning Commission Meeting of 6-22-20, 16. Letter of Support from VTA, 17. 20-0640 Corrected Attachment 11 (posted 20200630), 18. 20-0640 Corrected Attachment 12 (posted 20200630), 19. Presentation to Council 20200630
Related files: 20-0475
REPORT TO COUNCIL

SUBJECT
Title
Adopt a Resolution Establishing Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) as the Threshold of Significance for Analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Adopt a Council Policy for Transportation Impact Analysis, and Find that the Action is Exempt from CEQA

Report
SUMMARY OF COMMISSION ACTION
The Planning Commission considered this item on June 22, 2020 and voted 4-1-1 (one Commissioner absent) to recommend Alternative 1 with one additional recommendation for the City to consider when evaluating residential development projects:
* Allow residential developers to propose unbundled parking for residential developments as it has been shown to reduce VMT.

The recommendation from the Planning Commission does not require any modification to the draft policy (Attachment 3). The VMT policy does not establish the types of mitigation that may be required; appropriate mitigation will be determined at the time of a project approval. Unbundled parking would require further study and potential changes to City ordinances and parking policies. If the Council is interested in considering unbundled parking, the Council may want to propose a study issue. The draft meeting minutes of the Planning Commission hearing of June 22, 2020 can be found in Attachment 15. Additionally, a support letter from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority was submitted to the City on the day of the Planning Commission hearing and can be found in Attachment 16.

PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall, Sunnyvale Public Library and Department of Public Safety; and by making the agenda and report available at the Office of the City Clerk and on the City's website.

ALTERNATIVES
1. Adopt a resolution establishing Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) as the threshold of significance for analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), adopt a council policy ...

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