09-133 RESOLUTION NO. 09-133
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MENIFEE FINDING
THAT NO ADDITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW IS REQUIRED FOR
APPROVAL OF A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WITH KB HOME COASTAL INC.
WHEREAS, KB HOME Coastal Inc. has applied to the City of Menifee for the approval
of a development agreement for its Hidden Hills project, which now consists of 511 single-
family homes, an improved park containing approximately 5.3 acres, 10 open space/regional
trail/paseo lots, 3 storm drain flood control lots and accompanying infrastructure and other
improvements (the "Project") on approximately 116.2 gross acres within the City; and
WHEREAS, the development agreement provides for dedication of approximately 20
acres of property to the City for public purposes in exchange for certain vested development
rights such as a freeze on development fees and zoning changes;
WHEREAS, the development agreement does not intensify or otherwise change the
Project;
WHEREAS, the City is the Lead Agency under the California Environmental Quality
Act, Public Resources Code § 21000 et seq. ("CEQA"); and
WHEREAS, the approval of the development agreement constitutes a discretionary
approval which is part of a "project," as that term is defined in CEQA Guidelines § 15378} and
which itself requires review under CEQA; and
WHEREAS, on October 26, 2004, prior to the City's incorporation, the Board of
Supervisors of Riverside County certified that Environmental Impact Report No. 445, which
analyzed the environmental impacts which would result from the development of the Hidden
Hills project, had been prepared in full compliance with CEQA(the "EIR"); and
WHEREAS;-th-e EIR found that short- and long- term air quality impacts of the Hidden
Hills project could not be mitigated into insignificance; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors adopted a statement of overriding considerations
in connection with its approval of the Hidden Hills project; and
WHEREAS, the Hidden Hills project analyzed in the EIR dealt with a tentative
subdivision map which authorized the construction of 523 single-family homes, 12 more single-
family homes than are now part of the Project; and
WHEREAS, the staff has confirmed to the Planning Commission and to the City Council
that staff carefully and independently reviewed the EIR in light of the Project and that there is no
need for additional environmental review; and
Resolution No. 09-133
KB CEQA Resolution
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission conducted a duly noticed public hearing on
February 9, 2010, which considered the need for additional environmental review; and
WHEREAS, after carefully considering all comments received from the public as well as
the information provided by the staff, the Planning Commission adopted its Resolution PC10-35,
which recommends to the City Council that the development agreement proceed without further
environmental review; and
WHEREAS, the City Council as the lead agency has independently reviewed and
analyzed the reports required by CEQA; and
WHEREAS, on February 16, 2010, the City Council conducted a duly noticed public
hearing on the issue of the need for additional environmental review (among other issues
regarding approval of the development agreement);
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Menifee,
California, that:
1. The Recitals set out above are true and correct.
2. The EIR fully analyzed the environmental impacts of the Hidden Hills project as it was
approved in 2004; and
3. The Project will result in fewer environmental impacts than those which would have
resulted from the Hidden Hills project analyzed in the EIR; and
4. Based upon the information in the record, and as recommended by the Planning
Commission, neither a subsequent nor supplemental EIR is required because the review
of the Project, the development agreement and the EIR shows that
A. The proposed approval of the development agreement contains no substantial
changes in the Hidden Hills project requiring major revisions of the EIR due to the
involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the
severity of previously identified significant effects;
B. No substantial changes have occurred with respect to the circumstances under
which the Hidden Hills project is undertaken which will require major revisions of the
EIR;
C. There is no new information of substantial importance, which was not known and
could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence, at the time the EIR
was certified; and
D. There are no newly feasible, or considerably different, mitigation measures or
alternatives which would substantially reduce one or more significant effects of the
Hidden Hills project but which the Project proponent declines to adopt.
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Resolution No. 09-133
KB CEQA Resolution
5. No further environmental review of the Project is required under CEQA and that the
environmental impacts which will result from the approval-of the development agreement
are sufficiently analyzed by EIR No. 445.
6. The City Council's decision that no additional review is required under CEQA reflects its
independent judgment based on its independent review as the lead agency and analysis of
the report required by CEQA.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 16th day of February, 2010, by the
following vote:
AYES: Denver, Kuenzi, Mann
NOES: Twyman
ABSENT: Edgerton
ABSTAIN: None
Fred Twyman, Vice Mayor
Attest:
vfu�
Kathy Bennett, City Clerk
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