Saticoy & Wells Community Plan & Development ... - City Of Ventura

Saticoy & Wells Community Plan and Code EIRSection 1.0 Introduction1.0 INTRODUCTIONThis document is a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed Saticoy & WellsCommunity Plan and Development Code (herein referred to as the “Community Plan andCode” or “Project”), located in the City of Ventura, County of Ventura. This EIR is tiered off theCity of Ventura General Plan Final EIR (herein referred to as “General Plan”) dated August 2005(SCH #2004101014), which is incorporated by reference. Per CEQA disclosure, the General PlanFEIR can be read at the City of Ventura Planning Counter located at 501 Poli Street, Room #117,Ventura, CA. Community Plans are adopted by resolution as an amendment to the GeneralPlan under Government Code Sec. 65350, et seq. In order to reduce redundancy, the reader isdirected to the General Plan EIR for more detailed discussions of various issue areas. This EIRfocuses the discussion of General Plan issues as they pertain to the Saticoy & Wells CommunityPlan and Code area.This section describes: (1) the general background of the project’s EIR process; (2); the purposeand legal authority of the EIR (3) the scope and content of the EIR; (4) lead, responsible, andtrustee agencies; and (5) the environmental review process required under the CaliforniaEnvironmental Quality Act (CEQA).1.1 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT BACKGROUNDPrior to preparing the Saticoy & Wells Community Plan and Code, the City of Venturasponsored a series of public workshops to gather and incorporate public input. Workshopswere conducted on December 3, 2005, January 19, 2006, and February 11, 2006. Additionally,the City engaged the public in a large scale design charrette effort in August of 2006. Theresults of public workshops and additional public feedback before the Planning Commissionand City Council were presented on November 13, 2006, February 6, 2007, April 30, 2007, March3, 2008 and March 17, 2008.The City of Ventura prepared a Notice of Preparation (NOP) for an environmental impactreport and distributed the NOP for agency and public review for the required 30-day reviewperiod from August 19, 2006 to September 25, 20006. During that time, the City receivedcomment letters from agencies and members of the public. The NOP is presented in AppendixA, along with the Initial Study that was prepared for the project and the comment lettersreceived.A public scoping meeting was held on August 29, 2006, at the Sacred Heart Church communityfacility in Saticoy. The intent of the scoping meeting was to provide interested individuals,groups, public agencies and others a forum to provide input in an effort to assist in furtherrefining the intended scope and focus of the EIR. The focus of the scoping meeting was ontraffic and increased development in the area. The following topics were added to the scope ofthe EIR due to comments received:• Agricultural resources are analyzed according to both the CEQA thresholds and theLAFCO analysis used in advance of annexation. The EIR focuses greater attentionon prior cropping activities and economic consequences of farmland conversion.• Area roadways are analyzed in both a local and regional context.1-1City of Ventura