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Holder Law Group (Griffin, Peggy attachment) 11.12.15L I Holder Law Group holderecolaw.com G 339 15th Street, Suite 202 (510) 338-3759 Oakland, CA 94612 jason@holderecolaw.com November 12, 2015 Via U.S. Mail and Email City of Cupertino, Community Development Department Attention: Piu Ghosh, Senior Planner 10300 Torre Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014 Email: planning@cupertino.org Subject: Notice of Preparation — DEIR for Vallco Shopping District Specific Plan and The Hills at Vallco Project Dear Ms. Ghosh: On behalf of Better Cupertino, an unincorporated association of concerned residents of the City of Cupertino ("City"), this letter provides preliminary comments on the City's Notice of Preparation ("NOP") of a draft program environmental impact report ("DEIR") for the Vallco Shopping District Specific Plan and The Hills at Vallco (collectively, the "Project").' The proposed Project is located the intersections of N. Wolfe Road and Stevens Creek Boulevard and North Wolfe Road and Vallco Parkway. The Project would encompass approximately 58 - acres. The Vallco Shopping Mall currently occupies the Project site. The Project includes two components: the proposed Vallco Shopping District Specific Plan and The Hills at Vallco project. The NOP indicates that the Specific Plan may include the maximum amount of development authorized in the current General Plan. This level of development includes "a maximum of 1.2 million square feet of commercial uses (minimum 600,000 square feet of retail uses with a maximum of 30% of entertainment uses), 2.0 million square feet of office uses, 339 hotel rooms, and 389 residential dwelling units." While the NOP states that The Hills at Vallco project would implement the Specific Plan, it proposes 800 residential units (i.e., 411 more units than currently allowed under the General Plan). The Hills at Vallco project, as proposed, also includes "a 30 -acre green roof with public and private open space and recreational areas, two town squares, ancillary uses/amenities for the proposed residential and office uses, a transit center, a central plant, and parking facilities (including underground, 1 These comments are based upon the limited information concerning the proposed Project provided in the NOP. Better Cupertino representatives may supplement these comments orally at scoping meetings and in follow-up written comments when additional information concerning the proposed Project becomes available. Piu Ghosh, Senior Planner November 12, 2015 City of Cupertino, Community Development Department p. 2 structured, and surface parking)." The Hills at Vallco project may also include certain off-site improvements. According to the NOP, the Project has the potential to cause a number of significant short-term, long-term and cumulative environmental impacts. The City has determined that an EIR is required. 1. The DEIR must adequately analyze the Project's potentially significant impacts to City transportation, recreation, and school facilities, consider secondary impacts, and analyze a reasonable range of Proiect alternatives. The Draft Program EIR must include thorough analysis of the following potentially significant environmental impacts that could affect the City and its residents: 1) Impacts of conversion of non-residential development intensity to residential uses;' 2) Impacts to water supplies caused by the Project directly, as well as cumulative impacts to water supplies caused by this Project together with other past, present, and probable future projects; 3) Weekday and peak traffic impacts on all surrounding roads and intersections;' 4) Weekend and off-peak traffic impacts on Stevens Creek Boulevard and North Wolfe Road and impacts on recreation facilities including City parks as a result of additional residential, commercial, and retail uses; 5) Secondary impacts caused by increased traffic, including air quality impacts and increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; 6) Impacts to schools and other public services caused by the influx of new residents, including but not limited to: • The direct impacts on school facilities that this Project will cause,4 ' Because the Project proposes more residential units than authorized in the General Plan, the DEIR must analyze the impacts of this additional intensity. Residential uses have different impacts than nonresidential uses. For example, the traffic intensity and patterns differ with residential uses and residential uses increase demand for schools and recreational facilities. ' Please note: because the Governors Office of Planning and Research has not finalized its updated CEOA Guidelines implementing SB 743, the weekend and weekday traffic impact analyses must analyze Project -related traffic impacts using both the standard Level of Service and the modern Vehicle Miles Travelled methodologies. 4 For example, because Collins Elementary School and Cupertino High School are within % mile of the Project site, CEO,A § 21151.4 applies and the DEIR must analyze the effects Project -related air emissions may have on students at those schools. (See also CEQA Guidelines, § 15186.) Piu Ghosh, Senior Planner November 12, 2015 City of Cupertino, Community Development Department p. 3 • The potential to open the wall separating the Project site from the neighboring community (at (Merritt Drive, Amhurst Drive, or Wheaton Drive) to provide a "safe route to school," and • Cumulative impacts to schools caused by this Project in combination with other projects in the Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, San Jose area, including traffic impacts caused by assignment to overflow schools,' 7) Construction -period and operational impacts to the large double row of Ash trees along Stevens Creek Blvd. and along Wolfe Road and any other protected trees;' 8) Public service impacts to neighboring residents, including any reduced police, fire, or ambulance services or increased response times;' 9) Seismic -related hazards associated with the proposed 30 -acre green roof; 10) Aesthetic and visual impacts to neighboring communities, including but not limited to: • Obstructed views and increased shadows caused by the Project's tall buildings, and • Nighttime light pollution; 11) Loss of solar access to areas beneath green roof and the alternative of using Project roofs for solar energy generation; 12) The Project's direct and indirect secondary effects associated with the increase in traffic and recreation impacts to the City including but not limited to increased demand for limited parking, increased demand for police, fire and other City services, and the related strains on the City's limited facilities and resources; 13) Impacts stemming from additional office development and displaced retail uses, including, but not limited to: • Growth -inducing impacts, ' The City must consult with Cupertino schools (CUSD and FUHSD) when developing the analysis of school impacts. (See PRC, §§ 21083.9(b), 21153; see also CEQA Guidelines, 14 CCR §§ 15041(b), 15082(c), 15086(c) -(d), 15096.) 6 Please include analysis of the disturbance to tree roots during construction, as well as the loss of sunlight and any reductions in percolating water after the Project is built. ' For example, the Project may increase emergency response times by creating a barrier between residents of west Cupertino and the Kaiser Hospital facility at Lawrence Expressway and Homestead Road. Piu Ghosh, Senior Planner November 12, 2015 City of Cupertino, Community Development Department p. 4 • Displacement of lower income residents (and increased traffic caused by such displacement and the associated increase in commuting), • Increased travel to other more distant retail locations, • Increased traffic to freeways and local streets caused by large buses ferrying employees to new office developments, • and potential inconsistencies with the goals of SB 375; 14) Cumulative weekday and weekend traffic impacts and cumulative direct and secondary impacts to parking, police, fire and other City services as a result of past, proposed, and approved uses within the City; and 15) Consideration of a reasonable range of Project alternatives, including: • A revitalized mall that includes minimal or no physical changes to the existing Vallco Shopping Mall but includes incentives and other strategies to maximize tenant occupancy, • a reduced development alternative that includes reduced office and residential use development, • a balanced growth alternative that would attempt to match the proposed new residential development in both amount and housing cost (i.e., market rate, moderate income, low income, very low income) to the expected amount and demographics of the additional employment that would be associated with the new commercial development, and • A conventional layout alternative that would comply with existing City standards for development and open space and would use rooftop areas for solar energy generation. Please include all technical support for the above analyses in appendices to the DEIR. 2. Better Cupertino Reauests Notice of All Future Citv Actions Concerning the Proposed Project. Pursuant to Public Resources Code, section 21092.2, we also request notice of all stages of environmental review for the Project and any and all actions that the City proposes to take on this Project. Please send any and all notices via email to the following persons: a) The undersigned, at Jason@holderecolaw.com, b) Co -counsel Stu Flashman at stu@stuflash.com; Piu Ghosh, Senior Planner November 12, 2015 City of Cupertino, Community Development Department p. 5 c) Client representative Liang-Fang Chao and Ifchao@gmail.com; and d) Client representative Peggy Griffin at griffin@compuserve.com. Additionally, please send paper copies of notice documents solely to the undersigned. If you have any questions concerning these comments, you can reach me at the phone number and email address provided in the above letterhead. Sincerely, Jason W. Holder cc: (via email only) Stu Flashman (stu@stuflash.com) Liang-Fang Chao (Ifchao@gmail.com) Peggy Griffin (griffin@compuserve.com)